Live updates: Trump rescinds federal aid freeze; RFK Jr. grilled at Senate hearing as Lee Zeldin is confirmed to head EPA

Trump signed a sweeping executive order today that would prioritize and free up federal funding to expand school choice programs.

The order, which affects several federal departments, directs the Education Department to prioritize school choice programs through its discretionary grants, in addition to issuing guidance to states about federal allocations to districts and schools, a senior White House official said.

Read the full story here.

Meta said today it would pay $25 million to settle a four-year-old lawsuit from Trump over the social media company’s decision to suspend his accounts after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. 

Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, filed a notice of the settlement in federal court in San Francisco, where the lawsuit was pending. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone separately confirmed the terms: a $25 million payment from the company, with $22 million going toward a fund for Trump’s presidential library and the balance dedicated to legal fees and other plaintiffs in the case. 

Read the full story here.

An attorney for New York Mayor Eric Adams has contacted Justice Department leadership with a plea to drop the case against him, and officials in Washington have discussed the request with prosecutors in New York, two people briefed on the matter confirmed to NBC News.

The outreach is not unusual for a high-profile defendant like Adams, hoping for a fresh look at a case from a new administration’s Justice Department. There is no indication, however, that federal prosecutors in Manhattan are going to drop the case, a person familiar with the matter said.

Read the full story here.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the former House speaker, said today she's endorsing Ben Wikler, the chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, for chair of the Democratic National Committee ahead of its election Saturday.

“As a former State Chair and longtime DNC member, I have enormous respect for the DNC and the grassroots activism it engenders. It is with great confidence that I endorse Ben Wikler for Chair as the candidate best suited to lead us to a stronger DNC and many Democratic victories,” Pelosi said in a statement.

Wikler thanked Pelosi, saying the endorsement was the "honor of a lifetime."

Other declared candidates include former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and former Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson.

In his first interview as defense secretary, Pete Hegseth defended the Defense Department's decision to revoke Gen. Mark Milley's security clearance and remove his portrait from the walls.

"We have the opportunity to review things he may have done inside the chain of command while President Trump was president that undermined those authorities, so security clearance, in the interim, is revoked," Hegseth said on Fox News. "There will be a review of the rank he will retain upon retirement, and he’ll have that process."

Hegseth acknowledged President Joe Biden's pardon of Milley, former chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, and said officials are reviewing his actions.

Milley served in Trump's first term and in Biden's term, as well.

The Senate has voted to advance to a final vote the nomination of former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to be secretary.

The cloture vote, or the vote to end debate on Burgum's nomination, passed by a bipartisan tally of 78-20, teeing up a final confirmation vote this week.

Menendez was unrepentant as he left court after he was sentenced to 11 years in prison on bribery charges, claiming he was the victim of a “political witch hunt.”

“President Trump was right. This process is political, and it’s corrupt to the core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system,” said Menendez, a lifelong Democrat who voted to convict Trump during both of his impeachment trials.

The Senate has voted to confirm former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., to be the next administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency by a vote of 56-42.

The vote fell largely along party lines, with Democratic Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, both of Arizona, joining all Republicans to vote in his favor.

A judge sentenced an emotional former Sen. Bob Menendez to 11 years in prison for participating in a yearslong bribery and corruption scheme that rewarded him with gold bars and stacks of cash.

Menendez, D-N.J., had pleaded with U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein for mercy, twice breaking down in tears.

“I have lost everything,” he said after he recounted actions he said he had taken to help others while he was a senator, a job he resigned from after his conviction.

Read the full story here.

Former Sen. Kelly Loeffler's confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee is underway this afternoon. Loeffler is Trump's pick to head the Small Business Administration.

Sean Duffy was sworn in as Transportation Secretary today. The vice president swore him in in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is right next to the White House.

He was confirmed by the Senate in a 77-22 vote yesterday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said the Trump administration’s offer of “deferred resignation” to federal workers is the “right move.”  

“Drastic times call for drastic measure,” Johnson told reporters at his final press conference at the House GOP retreat in Doral, Florida. 

Asked about how entitlements could be affected in reconciliation, Johnson said, “we’re not talking about in any way reducing benefits” of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, but said the focus is on “efficiencies in the programs to make them work better.” 

Johnson said the Republican reconciliation plan will be “one of the greatest pieces of legislation in the history of United States Congress.”

While speaking at the White House for the bill signing of the Laken Riley Act, Trump announced that he would be signing an executive order to open a detention center at Guantanamo Bay meant to house migrants detained by ICE.

"I’m also signing an executive order to instruct the departments of Defense and Homeland Security to begin preparing the 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay," he said.

The site is home to a U.S. military prison that has housed terrorism suspects since it was opened in 2002.

Trump didn't provide any additional details about his plan.

Before signing the first piece of legislation of his second term into law, Trump defended his White House budget office's move to freeze funding for many federal government programs.

The president made the comments after the White House rescinded the memo that ordered the funding pause, though press secretary Karoline Leavitt added to the confusion this afternoon with a post on X.

"There was a short-term pause or funding freeze on certain discretionary spending, payments such as government grants, only for us to quickly look at the scams, dishonesty, waste and abuse that's taken place in our government for too long," Trump said at the White House.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., used his line of questioning to press Kennedy on the infant onesies once sold by Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine nonprofit Kennedy founded and served as chairman and chief legal counsel until he launched his presidential bid in 2023. 

Holding up a poster board with pictures of the onesies, Sanders pointed out slogans that read “No Vax, No Problem” and “Unvaxxed, Unafraid,” noting that Democrats on the committee were concerned about Kennedy’s past encouragement of parents not to vaccinate their young children.

“Are you supportive of these onesies?” Sanders asked.

Kennedy responded that he has no control over the organization but is “supportive of vaccines.”

The onesies have sparked widespread social media reaction from reporters covering the hearing, podcast hosts and political pundits on both sides of the aisle. 

Kennedy's confirmation hearing concluded with him being asked just one question about bird flu, which has been spreading rampantly in U.S. poultry since 2022 and in dairy cows since March.

Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., cited Kennedy's past comments about wanting to give infectious disease research a break in order to focus on other priorities, and asked, "Do you intend to give research on bird flu a break?"

"I intend to devote appropriate resources to preventing pandemics," Kennedy replied.

The hearing adjourned just after 1:30 p.m. As Kennedy left the room, supporters chanted, "We love you, Bobby!"

In her second line of questioning, Warren asked Kennedy about his role in the 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa.

"I have the documentation. You met with the prime minister, you talked about vaccinations. You met with an anti-vaccine influencer who described the meeting as ‘profoundly monumental for this movement.’ So what happens? Vaccinations go down, there’s a measles outbreak, and children start dying, but you double down. You didn’t give up. Just four days after the prime minister declared a state of emergency, 16 people already dead," Warren said.

Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., pressed Kennedy about comments he's made in recent years in which he blamed school shootings on antidepressants.

"I don’t think anybody can answer that question. ... I said it should be studied, along with other potential culprits like social media," he said.

Smith said, "The science shows that there is no link between school shootings and antidepressants, and in fact, most school shooters were not even treated with antidepressants."

Crapo just said that the committee has to wrap up the hearing because senators have to go vote.

A whip notice from this morning says they're scheduled to vote on a motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Lee Zeldin to serve as EPA administrator.

Kennedy sidestepped a question about whether the Trump administration supports extending subsidies that make Affordable Care Act premiums more affordable, saying, “Congress has to make its own decision about that.”

The subsidies — which expire at the end of 2025 — came out of the 2021 American Rescue Plan, and increased the amount of assistance available to people who want to buy insurance through the ACA, also known as Obamacare. The expiration date means that Congress and the Trump administration will need to decide whether to extend them.

If the subsidies aren’t extended, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that nearly 4 million people will lose their coverage.

Trump vowed to replace the ACA during his campaign.

The Trump administration today rescinded an order that attempted to freeze federal aid spending just one day after it was issued.

The order, which sparked chaos and confusion across Washington, was temporarily halted by a federal district judge Tuesday evening.

Read the full story here.

Kennedy is the founder of Children’s Health Defense, a prominent anti-vaccine activist group. The organization was formerly called the World Mercury Project, given its initial focus on ending exposure to mercury from several sources, including vaccines. (Most vaccines do not have mercury in them, and those that do contain a form of mercury that’s safe for people.)

Today, it is a major source of vaccine misinformation and its influence has expanded alongside Kennedy’s notoriety. In addition to legal advocacy work challenging vaccines and vaccine mandates, the group operates a daily newsletter, book publishing house, movie studio and an online TV network.

It has filed lawsuits against the Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — agencies Kennedy would oversee if confirmed as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. 

Howard Lutnick is also in the midst of being questioned on Capitol Hill to be the secretary of the Commerce Department.

During his questioning, Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., pushed the nominee on whether he would cut infrastructure funding, despite the fact that Congress has already passed an agreement on it.

"If President Trump asks you to cut infrastructure funding, as passed by this Congress in a bipartisan way, to build out internet to every school, as we both agreed, was an important issue, will you oppose that?" Lujan asked.

"I work for the president," Lutnick said.

While responding to questions from Sen. Maria Cartwell, D-Wash., Kennedy asserted that “almost nothing is studied at NIH about the etiology of our chronic disease epidemic,” and that instead, the “money is going to infectious disease.”

That claim is incorrect: Both areas receive substantial research funding. The National Institutes of Health comprises 27 institutes, one of which is the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.

Others include the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, which studies chronic diseases like diabetes and Crohn’s, among other conditions. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, meanwhile, researches issues like heart disease, asthma and high blood pressure, many of which are considered chronic diseases.

In 2024, the estimated top five areas of NIH funding were, in order: clinical research, neurosciences, prevention, genetics and brain disorders. Chronic diseases fall into many of those categories.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., asked Kennedy if he stands or retracts previous statements he's made about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including his comparisons of the agency to Nazi death camps and sexual abusers in the Catholic Church.

"I don't believe that I ever compared the CDC to Nazi death camps. I support the CDC," Kennedy said. "My job is to empower the scientists if I'm privileged to be confirmed."

Crapo rejected a request from Wyden for a second round of questioning for today's hearing, saying that his Democratic colleagues want to ask more questions.

Crapo said he would let only Wyden ask a second set of questions, and Wyden said he would divide that allotted time up among his fellow Democrats.

Kennedy hesitated to answer a question from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on whether health care is a human right — one of Sanders' central convictions.

"Do you agree with me that the United States join every other major country on Earth and guarantee health care to all people as a human right?" Sanders asked.

"Senator, I can’t give you a yes-or-no answer that question," Kennedy responded.

The nominee went on to compare the right to health care with the right to free speech, saying "it's different" because free speech "doesn't cost anybody anything."

Kennedy said, “I think more people would rather be on Medicare Advantage, because it offers very good services.”

Medicare Advantage is coverage offered by private insurers, rather than traditional Medicare.

Mehmet Oz, the celebrity doctor whom Trump has nominated to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has argued for privatizing the program.

While Medicare Advantage has grown increasingly popular, surveys show that older adults like having options when they choose coverage.

Kennedy claimed that Medicaid, the public health insurance program for people with low incomes, is not producing positive health outcomes.

“We’re spending $900 billion and our people are getting sicker every single year,” he said.

Trump, he added, wants people to have high-quality health insurance. Peer-reviewed studies, however, have shown that Medicaid expansion has led to improved physical health for low-income, older adults, as well as reductions in all-cause mortality.

Kennedy faced friendly questioning from Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Johnson, a businessman, emerged as one of the country’s most prominent vaccine skeptics during the pandemic, convening panels and appearing on conservative media where he promoted anti-vaccine misinformation.

Johnson said he was thrilled when Kennedy dropped out of the presidential race and joined forces with Trump.

"Coming together with Trump, and focusing on an area of agreement, something that the American people desperately want, finding out the answers, ‘What has caused autism, what is causing chronic illness?’” 

“My first response was, Bobby, this is an answer to my prayers.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., asked Kennedy about his views on climate change, citing the fact that Trump has previously called climate change a "hoax."

"President Trump and I, from the beginning, from our first meeting, agreed to disagree on that issue I believe is existential. My job is to make Americans healthy again," Kennedy told Sanders.

Sanders pressed Kennedy, asking, "You disagree with Trump? You don't think climate change is a hoax?" to which Kennedy only responded, "I answered the question."

Kennedy said Trump has directed him to “study the safety of mifepristone,” referring to one of the two drugs used in a medication abortion.

He added that “it’s immoral to have a policy where patients are not allowed to report adverse events or doctors are discouraged from doing that.”

The statement is misleading: In 2016, the Food and Drug Administration modified a requirement that prescribers report serious adverse events associated with mifepristone to instead require them to report deaths. But that did not restrict voluntary reporting, and the FDA still has a system for tracking negative effects from medications.

Patients can report serious reactions to the FDA’s MedWatch program, which are then collected in a database called the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System. Since mifepristone's approval in 2000, 36 deaths have been reported in association with the drug. However, an FDA analysis determined that the deaths could not be causally linked to the medication and did not raise any new safety issues.

Research has shown that the standard two-pill regimen for a medication abortion — mifepristone followed by misoprostol — has a 0.4% risk of major complications. 

In her questioning, Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., challenged Kennedy’s suggestion that the safety of mifepristone was uncertain, holding up a stack of studies that she asked to be admitted to the record.

“The studies are there, the safety is proved, the science is there,” Hassan said.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., got into a heated exchange with Kennedy over whether he would agree to not taking fees from suing drug companies.

"I want to know if you will commit right now that not only will you not go to work for drug companies, you won’t go to work suing the drug companies and taking your rake out of that while you’re a secretary and for four years afterward?" Warren said.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., asked Kennedy head-on: "Are you a conspiracy theorist?"

It's a label that's often given to Kennedy, and he acknowledged that "that is a pejorative, senator, that's applied to me."

Kennedy said his views on Covid vaccines and red dye led some to call him a "conspiracy theorist." He pointed out that the Food and Drug Administration recently banned a commonly used red dye as a possible carcinogen.

Kennedy has previously questioned the safety of Covid vaccines, saying they were rushed into production and not properly vetted.

In his exchange with Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., Kennedy was asked whether he would freeze grant funding for community health centers. Also known as Federally Qualified Health Centers, these organizations provide health care, including dental and mental health services, regardless of a patient’s ability to pay and are located in areas that may not have other medical facilities. They receive federal funding to do that.

Warner was referencing the halt on federal grants and loans that the Trump administration announced Monday night. On Tuesday evening, a federal district judge granted a stay in a case challenging the freeze, which paused the plan for a week. 

If the freeze had been able to proceed, federal funding for community health centers may have been paused temporarily, threatening their ability to continue operating and serving patients.

Kennedy said the Trump administration was taking action today to support a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act that allows Medicare — for the first time — to negotiate drug prices directly with drugmakers.

Until now, it was unclear whether the Trump administration supported the policy implemented under then-President Joe Biden. Republicans have said they don’t support it, and the drug industry has fiercely fought the program through lawsuits.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Experts were concerned Trump could attempt to weaken or repeal the law similar to his moves against the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., posed a scenario to Kennedy: A pregnant woman dealing with life-threatening bleeding from a miscarriage is told by an ER doctor that she needs an emergency abortion in a state where it's banned.

She asked if federal law protects her right to that emergency care.

"I don't know," Kennedy said.

Asked again if federal law pre-empts state law, Kennedy said, "The federal Constitution does. Not every federal law pre-empts state laws. It could be unconstitutional."

During her question time, Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., recapped Kennedy's past history of referring to himself as "pro-choice" and supporting abortion access.

She pointed out that his past stated positions on reproductive rights are at odds with Trump's views on the issue and accused him of "selling out" his views so that he could be nominated as HHS secretary.

"So Mr. Kennedy, I'm confused," Hassan told him. "You have clearly stated in the past that bodily autonomy is one of your core values. The question is, do you stand for that value or not? When was it that you decided to sell out the values you've had your whole life in order to be given power by President Trump?"

She added later, "Exactly when did you decide to sell out your life's work and values to get this position?"

Pushing back against Trump’s attempted freeze on federal grants and loans, House Democrats are planning a “day of action” tomorrow to draw attention to the negative impacts of the president’s move, according to a copy of a messaging memo obtained by NBC News.

“The Republican Rip Off is an unprecedented assault on the Country, the Constitution, and the Congress that will hurt millions of Americans,” reads the memo from the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, the House Democratic messaging arm.

“The impact is not theoretical, and we must make clear this action will cause great harm to the communities that we serve. To that end, House Democrats are leading a Day of Action on Thursday, January 30, to raise awareness and stop the Republican Rip Off,” the memo continues.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., began his questioning of Kennedy with a plea to the nominee to give "a clear and trustworthy recantation" of his past statements on vaccines.

"If you want to move from advocacy to public responsibility, Americans are going to need to hear a clear and trustworthy recantation of what you have said on vaccinations," Whitehouse said.

The senator asked that Kennedy include a promise to Americans that he would "never say vaccines aren't medically safe when they in fact are and making indisputably clear that you support mandatory vaccinations against diseases where that will keep people safe."

Whitehouse referenced the recent outbreak of measles in his home state, the first outbreak since 2013, telling Kennedy that "frankly, you frighten people."

During Sen. James Lankford's, R-Okla., questioning time, Kennedy told the senator, "President Trump has told me that he wants to end late term abortions, he wants to protect conscientious exemptions and that he wants to end federal funding for abortions abroad ... I'm going to — I serve at the pleasure of the president. I'm going to implement his policies."

Kennedy's statement seemed to be at odds with his own views on abortion, which have shifted in recent years.

Last year, while he was still running as an independent candidate for president, Kennedy told a podcast host that he would support allowing women to have abortions at full term, if that was their choice.

But just days later, he walked his position back, writing in a post on X that, "abortion should be legal up until a certain number of weeks, and restricted thereafter."

Swerving from Kennedy's anti-vaccine history, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy moved to policy, asking questions about government health insurance programs.

Kennedy stumbled through his answers and Cassidy’s facial expressions seemed credulous. Cassidy leads the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which Kennedy will testify before tomorrow.

Cassidy, who is also a doctor, is expected to play a crucial role in Kennedy’s confirmation. He said he agrees with Kennedy on some goals, like reducing ultraprocessed food in American diets, but has said publicly he disagrees with Kennedy’s views on vaccines.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., pressed Kennedy about the funding freeze the White House Office of Management and Budget ordered for many federal programs this week.

Warner said that Monday, Kennedy's former presidential campaign blasted out an email celebrating the funding freeze and soliciting donations to pay down campaign debt. Kennedy claimed he knew nothing about it and said he no longer has a campaign.

"Do you think that was a good idea to put all of this on hold for 90 days — funding and any kind of further work?" Warner asked, adding that he'd like Kennedy to explain to a domestic violence center in Richmond that says it may have to close down. "Where are those battered women to go?"

Kennedy replied, "The Trump administration has made clear, and does not want to freeze, benefits for any Americans under Medicaid or Medicare."

"Most people are on Medicaid are not happy. The premiums are too high, the deductibles are too high, the networks are narrow. The best doctors will not accept it, the best hospitals," Kennedy said.

According to a January poll from KFF, a nonprofit health think tank, 37% of people said they had “very favorable” view of the Medicaid program, and 40% said they had a “somewhat favorable” view. Medicaid was viewed favorably by a majority (63%) of Republicans surveyed, and even higher share of Democrats and independents.

Medicaid and Medicare account for more than 60% of all care provided by hospitals, according to the American Hospital Association.

During his testimony, Kennedy told Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., "Americans don't, Americans don't, by and large, do not like the Affordable Care Act."

But in reality, public opinion polling conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation has found that Americans tend to have a favorable view of the ACA, with favorability generally rising every year since 2017.

Most recently, in April 2024, the KFF poll found that 62% of Americans have a favorable view of the ACA and 37% have an unfavorable view.

Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., asked Kennedy about statements he's made in the past about Covid and Lyme disease being engineered bioweapons.

"Mr. Kennedy, did you say that Covid-19 was a genetically engineered bioweapon that targets black and white people but spared Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people?" Bennet asked.

Kennedy said that he "didn't say" that it "deliberately targeted" certain people, saying that he was quoting an NIH-funded and published study at the time.

During his question time, Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., blasted Kennedy, reading his own controversial statements out to the nominee in a fiery exchange.

Before his time was up Bennet blasted Kennedy, accusing him of being disingenuous on issues like abortion, which he said Kennedy has supported, as Kennedy deflected on some of the questions.

"It doesn't matter what you come here and say isn't true. That's not reflective of what you really believe," said Bennet, a former school system superintendent, adding: "Unlike other jobs we're confirming around this place, this is a job where it is life and death for the kids that I used to work for."

In response to questions from Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, about the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, a global health program to combat HIV worldwide, Kennedy said, "I absolutely support PEPFAR, and I will I will happily work with you to strengthen the program."

His remark came after Cornyn credited PEPFAR as "one of the most successful public health programs in the world." Cornyn added that it has "saved approximately 26 million lives. Failure to continue this program, in my view, would be ceding that leadership to adversaries like China."

But just last week, amid a freeze on the distribution of foreign aid, the Trump administration halted PEPFAR, taking the program's computer systems offline and canceling health appointments.

To questions about the 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa that sickened thousands and killed 83, mostly children, Kennedy denied any role in the tragedy and then challenged, without evidence, the fact that measles had caused the deaths — a claim he has made before.

“I went there to introduce a medical informatics system,” Kennedy said. “You cannot find a single Samoan who will say I didn’t get a vaccine because of Bobby Kennedy.”

Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine nonprofit founded by Kennedy, spread misinformation about a 2018 vaccine panic caused when two nurses improperly mixed a measles vaccine, killing two babies. Kennedy visited the Pacific island nation in 2019, where he lobbied the prime minister and health officials on the supposed dangers of the measles vaccine and offered them a health misinformation system that would study health outcomes following the ‘natural experiment’ created by the respite from vaccines. Experts told NBC News that Kennedy’s proposed experiment was unethical and cruel.

"Most experts agree today, even the people who did it back then, that Covid vaccines are inappropriate for 6-year-old children, who basically have a zero risk of Covid," Kennedy said.

The statement is false: Covid was the seventh leading cause of death among children ages 1 to 4 in the U.S. between 2021 and 2022. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends Covid vaccines for everyone ages 6 months and older.

Kennedy petitioned the Food and Drug Administration in 2021 to revoke authorization of Covid vaccines. He said today that the petition was a response to the CDC recommending Covid vaccines "without any scientific basis for 6-year-old children."

Kennedy suggested in response to Wyden that he wouldn't take action as HHS secretary that would impose an anti-vaccine approach.

“I support the measles vaccine. I support the polio vaccine. I will do nothing as HHS secretary that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking anything," Kennedy said.

The New York Times reported in December that a lawyer and longtime adviser to Kennedy had petitioned the federal government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine.

Siri defended his work in an email to NBC News, saying his petitions sought increased safety for vaccines and that ICAN’s financial support was “trivial” compared to spending by the pharmaceutical industry. 

Kennedy spokesman Katie Miller said Siri was no longer involved in the transition and that he does not represent Kennedy’s views.

During his questioning time, Wyden again raised Kennedy's previous anti-vaccine comments and advocacy.

"Are you lying to Congress today when you say you're pro-vaccine or did you lie on all of those podcasts?" Wyden asked.

Kennedy defended himself, claiming that the comments he made on one particular podcast — the Lex Fridman podcast — were taken out of context.

"Bringing this up right now is dishonest," Kennedy told Wyden.

During that podcast, Kennedy said, "There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective" and that "vaccines are inherently unsafe."

Wyden pushed Kennedy on his back-and-forth vaccine comments, referencing the letter his cousin Caroline Kennedy wrote that argued he was unfit for office.

"The committee received from Ambassador Carolyn Kennedy outlining what she believes is Mr. Kennedy's lack of personal fitness for the office without objection," Wyden said.

"Mr. Kennedy, you have spent years pushing conflicting stories about vaccines. You say one thing and then you say another," the senator continued, adding that despite condemning vaccines in past statements, Kennedy said in his opening statements today he was "not anti-vaccine."

"Mr. Kennedy, all of these things cannot be true. So are you lying to Congress today when you say you are pro-vaccine?" Wyden said.

Kennedy claimed that statements he made on podcasts have "been repeatedly debunked."

Another protester interrupted the confirmation hearing as Kennedy was responding to a question from Wyden.

"Comments from the audience are inappropriate and out of order," Crapo said. "If there are any further disruptions, the committee will recess until the police can restore order. Please follow the rules of the committee."

Outlining his plan for using federal aid programs to promote nutrition in American households and schools, Kennedy cracked a joke about Trump, whom he called his “boss.”

“I don’t want to take food away from anybody,” Kennedy said. “If you like McDonald’s cheeseburgers, which my boss loves, you should be able to get them.” 

Following a collective chuckle from the packed hearing room, Kennedy added, “but you should know what the impacts are on your family, on your health.”

In his first question to Kennedy, Crapo asked what sparked Kennedy's passion for "nutrition-oriented disease prevention."

In his answer, Kennedy spoke about the rise of chronic diseases, health conditions and autism over the course of his lifetime.

"It's not just a national security issue. It is a spiritual issue, and it is a moral issue. We cannot live up to our role as an exemplary nation, as a moral authority around the world, and we're writing off an entire generation of kids," Kennedy told the committee.

"This movement, led largely by MAHA moms from every state you can see many of them behind us today and in the hallways and in the lobbies, is one of the most transcendent and powerful movements I’ve ever seen,” Kennedy said, using an abbreviation for Make America Healthy Again.

He has long credited moms with fueling the modern anti-vaccine movement he helped build.

The way he tells it, he was convinced in the early aughts by activists and self-described “autism moms” who shared their stories of believed vaccine injuries. Those beliefs — that vaccines cause conditions like autism — have been bolstered by Kennedy’s activism over the last 20 years, the subject of his books, lawsuits brought by him, and rally speeches.

Among the prominent influencers in attendance for RFK Jr.’s confirmation hearing today is Jessica Reed Kraus, an Orange County-based blogger who covered Trump and RFK Jr. on the campaign trail through her Substack newsletter House Inhabit. Kraus told NBC News on the eve of the hearing that she had a 6:45 a.m. call time in order to claim a seat. She was wearing a “Make America Healthy Again” baseball hat, the slogan Kennedy popularized on the trail when he endorsed Trump.

Kraus was at Butterworth’s, a popular restaurant that has become a gathering place for conservatives in Washington, D.C., which was hosting an event to celebrate Breitbart’s Matthew Boyle, part of a cadre of so-called “New Media” outlets that the Trump White House says it plans to offer improved press access.

Also in attendance were Mike Allen of Axios, who made a special appearance alongside Boyle earlier in the day during the White House press secretary’s debut briefing, and Isabel Brourman, an artist who attracted attention for her work covering Trump’s New York hush money trial.

In his opening statement, Kennedy characterized the health of Americans as "grievous."

"Today, Americans’ overall health is in a grievous condition," Kennedy said, adding later that, "It’s the human tragedy that moves us to care."

'A healthy person has a thousand dreams. A sick person has only one. Today, over half of our countrymen and women are chronically ill," he added.

Kennedy also addressed the perception that he is opposed to vaccines, telling committee members that, "News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. Well, I am neither." Kennedy was interrupted by a protester when he made the remark.

Kennedy has a long history as a vaccine skeptic, and has spread conspiracy theories baselessly linking vaccines to autism. He's also called the Covid vaccine “the deadliest vaccine ever made,” even though data shows it’s overwhelmingly safe.

He described his advocacy and activism as disturbing "the status quo by asking uncomfortable questions."

A woman interrupted the hearing and was kicked out of the hearing room.

"I'm not anti-vaccine," Kennedy said in his opening statement.

"You are!" the woman yelled.

People applauded as she was being removed from the room.

Conservative commentator and former Fox News host Megyn Kelly is attending Kennedy's hearing, sitting toward the front of the audience.

She wrote on X yesterday, “I would like to take a peek at what they do to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. I feel like this show and he have somewhat of a special relationship... I’ll be down there tomorrow supporting him and watching to see what they throw at him.”

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in his opening remarks blasted Kennedy, saying he "has embraced conspiracy theories, quacks, charlatans, especially when it comes to the safety and efficacy of vaccines." 

Wyden called out Kennedy as a vaccine skeptic, specifically pre-empting a defense Kennedy uses often when refuting claims that he's an anti-vaccine activist.

"Mr. Kennedy is found fond of saying he's not making recommendations about whether parents should vaccinate their children. He's just asking questions and giving people choices," Wyden said, adding, "It's a slippery tactic to dodge any real responsibility for his words and actions, and it is, in my view, absurd coming from somebody who's trying to win confirmation for a job that is entirely about making recommendations."

Several attendees of the hearing are wearing “RFK Jr. for President” merchandise. Two people in the front row wearing hats that say “CONFIRM”

The line outside of the overflow room, where spectators can watch the hearing on CSPAN, is also very long. This morning, on the way into work at 6 a.m., there was a long line of people waiting outside the Dirksen office building, several of whom were drinking White Claws.

The hearing has begun and Crapo is delivering his opening statement.

As Kennedy entered the room, he was met with applause from those in attendance and pats on the back. 

RFK Jr. has arrived for his confirmation hearing in the Senate. He was joined by his wife, Cheryl Hines.

Senators on both sides of the aisle have raised a variety of concerns about Kennedy, and he’s widely considered to be one of Trump’s most controversial Cabinet picks. Some topics that are expected to come up today are his flip-flopping on abortion, which have made some anti-abortion senators uneasy about his nomination, and his long history of anti-vaccine activism.

Democrats on the committee will try to highlight some of Kennedy's controversial positions on issues beyond vaccines, such as removing fluoride from drinking water and deregulating raw milk, and they will try to prove that he is unqualified, according to a Democratic committee aide. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., for example, already sent a letter to Kennedy with 175 questions she has for him.

While some Democrats have expressed support for Kennedy's positions on food safety, nutrition and his Make America Healthy Again plan, not one Senate Democrat has publicly endorsed his nomination. No Republicans have said publicly that they plan to vote against him.

Some senators to watch today are:

Senate Democrats and Hawaii Gov. Josh Green urged senators in a press conference this morning to vote against RFK Jr.'s nomination to serve as HHS secretary.

Lawmakers highlighted RFK’s involvement in the deadly measles outbreak in Samoa, arguing that his confirmation would normalize the anti-vaccine movement and cause vaccination rates to plummet.

Green, a physician, said that if Kennedy is confirmed, he would oversee the national program to vaccinate children. He predicted that Kennedy would "lie today and tell people he maybe supports vaccinations."

On the first day of Kennedy’s Senate confirmation hearings, the line of public attendees stretches down to the lower floor of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Up to this point, Kennedy has only met with U.S. lawmakers behind closed doors.

Trump's nominee for attorney general, Pam Bondi, has advanced from the Judiciary Committee, teeing her nomination up a final confirmation vote on the Senate floor.

The committee voted 12-10 to advance her nomination.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a vote this morning on sending Pam Bondi’s nomination for attorney general to the full Senate. Bondi needs only a simple majority, and it's expected that she will advance.

Once reported out of the Judiciary Committee, Bondi’s nomination won’t be available to be considered on the Senate floor until tomorrow, but there are a number of Trump nominees in the queue already, so her full Senate confirmation vote could be pushed to next week. 

Kennedy’s opening remarks show he’ll be strategically distancing himself from the anti-vaccine movement.

“I want to make sure the Committee is clear about a few things. News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. Well, I am neither; I am pro-safety,” Kennedy will say. “All of my kids are vaccinated, and I believe vaccines have a critical role in healthcare.”

But his past statements will call that claim into question. For years in ideologically friendly spaces, Kennedy has made his position on vaccines clear. In a 2020 podcast for his nonprofit, Children’s Health Defense, Kennedy said vaccines had caused food allergies in his children and he wishes he could go back and change his decision to vaccinate them.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, is expected to present Kennedy as an advocate for transparent health care, according to a copy of his prepared opening remarks for today's confirmation hearing.

“Your advocacy for health care transparency has the potential to empower consumers across the country, promoting competition to enhance quality while cutting excessive spending, both for patients and for taxpayers," his prepared remarks state.

Crapo is also expected to talk about "misguided government initiatives and market volatility," which he says threaten U.S. leadership in research and development efforts.

"Mr. Kennedy, if confirmed, you will have the opportunity to chart a new and better course for the federal approach to tackling both the drivers and the consequences of our ailing health care system. Your commitment to combatting chronic conditions that drive health care costs will be critical to our success," he is expected to say.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to face his first Senate confirmation hearing as President Donald Trump’s nominee to become the next secretary of health and human services today, when he is expected to be grilled about his views on vaccines and abortion, as well as potential conflicts of interest he would face in the role.

While several of Trump’s Cabinet picks have generated controversy, few have provoked the level of outside opposition from both the right and the left that Kennedy, a former third-party presidential candidate, has drawn.

Kennedy has been the subject of negative paid ad campaigns, with liberals criticizing his anti-vaccine positions and conservatives decrying his stances on abortion. Physicians and Nobel laureates have publicly warned about him, accusing him of politicizing science.

And on the eve of his hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, he got a stinging rebuke from his own family.

Read the full story here.

Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said yesterday that her home state was “stunned” by Sen. Gary Peters’ decision to retire, a choice that opened another marquee race in 2026 in a swing state that she predicts will be “a very rough place” politically in these coming competitions.

“The base in Michigan is mighty unhappy right now with a whole lot of things, and that dynamic is going to be interesting, too,” Dingell said of the pending Democratic primary for these races.

Dingell said she won’t be on the roster of candidates for higher office — colorfully saying she doesn’t want to deal with the “BS” of fundraising and politicking while serving in the House — but the list of interested Democratic names is long. It includes former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Reps. Hillary Scholten and Haley Stevens, and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, to name a few.

All will have a primary battle ahead before they can face voters come November 2026. Asked what’s motivating voters — including that displeased Democratic base — Dingell said:“Anybody that really cares about what’s happening is worried about the economy. So let’s start there — and bird flu. We’ve had bird flu in Michigan. We’ve gone to cage eggs. It’s, you know, lots of people like eggs and eggs prices are very high. So start with the economy, and it’s housing and those kinds of things.”

In a letter yesterday urging the Senate to reject Kennedy’s nomination as health and human services secretary, Caroline Kennedy referred to her cousin as a “predator.”

Caroline Kennedy, a former U.S. ambassador to Australia and the daughter of President John F. Kennedy, said RFK Jr. was unqualified to lead HHS, which oversees many federal agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Among her many criticisms in the letter to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Kennedy said that “siblings and cousins who Bobby encouraged down the path of substance abuse suffered addiction, illness and death.”

Read the full story here.

For decades, the scientific community has worked to dispel a thoroughly debunked theory that vaccines cause autism and finally shift its focus to find true potential causes.

But now, autism advocates say they are fearful that confirming Kennedy as health and human services secretary could undermine years of progress in unlinking autism and vaccines, while potentially diverting precious research dollars to a theory already discredited by hundreds of studies worldwide. They warn he would wield vast influence over who sits on committees and steers policy.

And some condemned Kennedy’s rhetoric around autism, calling it stigmatizing and insulting.

Read the full story here.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio broadened the list of exemptions from the near total freeze of U.S. foreign assistance yesterday to include “lifesaving assistance,” according to a waiver obtained by NBC News. 

The announcement comes as nongovernmental organizations and aid groups worldwide have already suspended humanitarian programs and fired staff in the wake of the immediate halt to U.S. funding.

“Implementers of existing life-saving humanitarian assistance programs should continue or resume work if they have stopped,” Rubio wrote, adding that “the resumption is temporary” and “no new contracts shall be entered into,” with rare exception. 

The Senate Finance Committee will hold Kennedy's first confirmation hearing today starting at 10 a.m. ET. It's expected to last about 2½ hours, according to a committee aide.

It is the first of Kennedy's two confirmation hearings. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which Kennedy will appear before tomorrow, traditionally holds a courtesy hearing for the health and human services secretary nominee, but Finance is the committee that votes on whether to advance the nominee to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote. Both committees have jurisdiction over the Department of Health and Human Services, which is why both hold confirmation hearings.

While the two hearings are likely to touch on similar topics, there are some key differences in terms of the jurisdiction of the two committees that will tailor the focus of senators’ questions. For example, the Finance Committee hearing is expected to focus more on Medicare and Medicaid, which it oversees.

If he is confirmed, Kennedy would have sweeping control over a suite of 18 agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

“This is the most important hearing of all of Trump’s Cabinet picks,” said Lawrence Gostin, director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University. “The HHS secretary has enormous power over domestic health care, global health and directly oversees tens of thousands of scientists, doctors and nurses.” 

Here are 5 key health topics to watch for during Kennedy’s hearings.