Health secretary RFK Jr heads to the hill to defend MAHA agenda and budget cuts

Liveupdated{"lang":"en","timestamp":1776343283}NewsWorldAmericasUS politicsHealth secretary RFK Jr heads to the hill to defend MAHA agenda and budget cutsDemocrats are poised to hammer Kennedy over his controversial vaccine policies and budget cutsBrendan Rascius in New York Thursday 16 April 2026 13:41 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2958979","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-news-live-rfk-hearings-b2958979.html","title":"RFK Jr heads to the hill to defend MAHA agenda and budget cuts"}}ClosePete Hegseth begins briefing with war crime threat to IranSign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington emailEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_INSIDE_WASHINGTON","regTitle":"Inside Washington","subscriptionGroup":"inside_washington","subscriptionGroupId":"af764e04-87eb-45e6-a84b-a7455ba70a1e","type":"inside_washington","pathPrefix":"/news/world/americas/us-politics","associatedAuthors":["Eric Garcia","John Bowden"],"title":"Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox","mobileTitle":"Get our free Inside Washington email","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/insideWashington1_1.png","label":"I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email","newsletterKey":"receiveInsideWashingtonNews","regSourceSection":"US politics","regSourceMethod":"NSCs"},"isClimate":false}Hea...