Angela D. Alsobrooks

10/10/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/10/2025 16:52

Alsobrooks, Wyden Continue to Build the Case Against RFK Jr.

After releasing a 54-page report chronicling every day of RFK Jr.'s costly, chaotic, and corrupt reign as Secretary, Senators Alsobrooks and Wyden continue to build their case for why RFK Jr. must resign or be fired.

October 10, 2025

WASHINGTON, DC - Despite the Republican shutdown, RFK Jr. continues to harm the American people. Senators Alsobrooks and Wyden will continue to release updated actions taken by RFK Jr. and add these acts to their joint report.

Chaos, Corruption, and Costs Continues: Kennedy's Weekly Failings

Below are Kennedy's latest harmful actions (from September 26 - October 9, 2025):

  1. On September 19, September 30, October 1, October 3, October 6, October 7, October 8, and October 9, Senate Republicans voted to shut down the federal government, opposing a proposal to permanently extend middle-class tax credits that make Affordable Care Act (ACA) premiums affordable, repeal Republicans' largest health care cuts in history, and protect against reckless and unlawful funding cancellations. Recent analyses confirm that unless Republicans act, ACA premiums will more than double, on average, starting next year. Kennedy has done absolutely nothing to stop this health care catastrophe.
  1. Under Kennedy's leadership, HHS released a shutdown contingency plan that would furlough 41% of its staff. Based on reporting of a draft memo by the Office of Management and Budget, this would put over 32,000 employees at risk of not receiving the back pay they are legally entitled to, once the shutdown ends.
  1. Kennedy continued the Trump administration's crusade against free speech by firing top National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientist Jeanne Marrazzo for a whistleblower complaint. Alongside other public servants Trump and Kennedy have maligned, Marrazzo shone light on this administration's unscientific hostility toward vaccines.
  1. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention adopted new hurdles recommended by the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) for Americans who want to receive COVID boosters. The new guidance mandates that most Americans consult with physicians before vaccinating themselves.
  1. Opposition continues to mount as six former U.S. Surgeon Generals appointed by Republican and Democratic presidents issued a public warning in the Washington Post about the dangers Kennedy poses to the health of the American people, noting that "…the profound, immediate and unprecedented threat Kennedy's policies and positions pose to the nation's health cannot be ignored."
  1. Under Kennedy's leadership, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued wholly insufficient guidance on seniors' access to telehealth services during Trump's health care shutdown. Trump himself said that, because of the shutdown, he can cut benefits for large numbers of people, including "medical" benefits. Health care providers may start cancelling telehealth appointments for seniors and others with Medicare because CMS is not doing more. CMS is also falling short on the Hospital at Home program, forcing hospitals to transfer nearly 1,200 Medicare patients receiving care at home away from their families and into brick-and-mortar facilities. Kennedy is playing political games with Medicare benefits instead of prioritizing seniors' health and well-being.
  1. The immediate and direct harms caused by the Republican budget law continue: a rural hospital in Powell, Wyoming, announced that it will close its oncology services and internal medicine clinic due to "tough financial circumstances," and three primary clinics in rural Maine will close after the bill defunds health providers that provide abortions and other essential health care services, like cancer screenings and reproductive health care. Kennedy takes no responsibility whatsoever for the worsening health care crisis that disproportionately impacts Americans in rural areas caused by Republicans' more than $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the ACA.
  1. The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), a subagency of HHS responsible for the care and custody of unaccompanied immigrant children, began offering children in its care $2,500 to self-deport. Attorneys and advocates for these extremely vulnerable children warn that this cruel initiative amounts to coercion.
  1. During a Cabinet meeting on October 9, Kennedy claimed that "children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism," the latest in a litany of dangerous and baseless claims about the causes of autism. Later in the meeting, Kennedy would again wrongfully assert that "anybody that takes [Tylenol] during pregnancy is irresponsible."
  1. Another poll demonstrated that Kennedy has lost the trust of the American people. Nearly 6 in 10 adults in the United States say they disapprove of Kennedy's overall job performance as HHS Secretary. Similarly, according to a new Gallup poll, the trust in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has fallen to a record low under Kennedy's leadership.

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Angela D. Alsobrooks published this content on October 10, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on October 10, 2025 at 22:52 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]