WASHINGTON – Representative Haley Stevens (D–Mich.) announced Thursday that she will introduce articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
“Enough is enough,” Stevens said in a statement. “We need leaders who put science over chaos, facts over lies, and people over politics.”
Stevens’ announcement comes after Kennedy’s contentious congressional testimony over vaccine policy, and his linking of Tylenol use and autism without evidence.
In response to Stevens’ plan to file articles of impeachment against Kennedy, HHS Director of Communications Andrew Nixon told the Medill News Service, “Secretary Kennedy remains focused on the work of improving Americans’ health and lowering costs, not on partisan political stunts.”
In a press release, Stevens refers to Kennedy’s “ongoing efforts to jeopardize public health, increase the cost of healthcare, and cut critical medical research” as key motives behind her push to remove him from office.
“RFK Jr. is making our country less safe and making healthcare less affordable and accessible for Michiganders,” Stevens said in a statement.
According to the press release, Stevens’ articles of impeachment against Kennedy will primarily center on his lying in his confirmation hearing and failing to carry out statutory duties of HHS, as well as his cutting of funds for lifesaving research, restricting access to vaccines and raising healthcare costs.
Some of the points brought up in Stevens’ call to impeach Kennedy also mirror concerns of other members of Congress.
Representative Laura Gillen (D–N.Y.) has spoken out against what she referred to as the “deeply disturbing” federal budget cuts to childhood cancer research – one of the specific actions listed by Stevens for impeachment.
At a press conference on pediatric cancer research cuts last week, Gillen said the cuts were detrimental to America’s image as a leader in healthcare research and innovation and that the only way for the nation to continue to be a “beacon of hope” for medical research is “not by cutting funds to research, but by continuing it.”
Stevens says not only is it bad for America’s image but Kennedy’s actions are “unprecedented, reckless, and dangerous.”
“Secretary Kennedy has violated his oath of office and proven himself unfit to serve the American people,” Stevens said. “Congress must act to hold him accountable, and I intend to lead the charge to remove him from office.”
Stevens has not said when she plans to file the articles against Kennedy. Historically, only two cabinet members have ever been impeached by the House, though neither were convicted by the Senate.
