Bernie Sanders just dumped a bucket of cold water on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s HHS parade. On Thursday, the Vermont independent released a trove of internal Health and Human Services emails. They paint a grim picture. According to the documents, the newly minted HHS Secretary spent his early days leaning hard on the CDC to muzzle its vaccine messaging.
It gets worse. The emails suggest Kennedy bypassed the experts entirely. He allegedly ordered the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel to restrict access to shots, opened up confidential data to researchers hunting for the long-debunked autism link, and unilaterally rewrote COVID-19 shot recommendations. No CDC input required. Just raw political will.
Bureaucrats who stood in the way didn’t last long. Take Susan Monarez, the former CDC Director. In August 2025, Kennedy’s then-chief of staff, Matthew Buckham, sent her an email. He demanded a “political review” of major CDC decisions. The goal? To ensure political appointees approved everything before it went public. Control was the game.
Monarez didn’t play along. She was fired less than a week later. Sanders claims she was axed for refusing to “rubber stamp” the administration’s agenda. He called the firing “outrageous” and demanded Kennedy’s immediate resignation. He wants a bipartisan probe. Good luck with that in Washington.
The meddling went deep. It hit advertising. Emails show Kennedy personally ordered the cancellation of active flu vaccine campaigns. Andrew Nixon, the HHS communications director, told a CDC staffer to yank all ads promoting shots. The staffer pointed out the ads were already paid for and running. Nixon didn’t care. He said the order came straight from the top.
Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC’s former chief medical officer, was the one who handed these emails over to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Now, Sanders is begging committee chair Sen. Bill Cassidy to haul Kennedy in for a hearing. Sanders claims Kennedy is running a “dangerous misinformation campaign” from the very agency meant to protect American health. The crusade continues.
