Democrat Analilia Mejia won the special election to fill New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s seat in the House.
Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., grilled Kennedy on decisions made under his leadership to restrict access to childhood vaccines, including the combined measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (MMRV) vaccine. The actions have since been blocked by a federal judge.
“You questioned the effectiveness of the measles vaccine, and then in September, your handpicked vaccine panel voted against recommending the combined measles vaccine for children under 4,” Stevens said.
“It was dangerous,” Kennedy replied.
Doctors already suggest that younger kids get the measles and varicella, or chickenpox, vaccines separately, unless a parent or caregiver prefers the combination shot, due to a small increased risk of febrile seizures in children under age 4. The seizures usually last for a few minutes and, while they may be scary for parents to witness, are generally harmless.
Stevens went on to criticize Kennedy’s attempt to alter the childhood vaccine schedule to include fewer universal recommendations.
“You think that we should recommend interventions that have not been safety-tested?” Kennedy asked.
FDA-approved childhood immunizations have been rigorously evaluated in trials for safety and efficacy.
The House Education and Workforce Committee is taking a five-minute break from its hearing with Kennedy.
Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., asked for Kennedy’s reaction to a Danish study published earlier this week that showed no link between taking acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, in pregnancy and autism in children. Kennedy’s department argued last year that there could be an association.
“The study is a garbage study. It should be retracted,” Kennedy said. He criticized its analysis of Tylenol prescriptions, since most people obtain the medication over the counter.
However, researchers say prescription data tends to be more reliable and easier to track in large groups of people. A spate of other recent studies have found no connection between acetaminophen use in pregnancy and neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism.
Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., accused the secretary of not answering his questions when the congressman confronted Kennedy with Trump’s comments from a few weeks ago floating the idea to let states control Medicare, Medicaid and day care subsidies because the federal government has “to take care of one thing: military protection. We have to guard the country.”
“I don’t know about that proposal, and the president has not told me about it,” Kennedy told Courtney.
“You clearly don’t want me to answer these questions,” Courtney told Kennedy as he tried to speak further.
“My answer has to begin with correcting a lot of the misstatements that you made in your introduction,” Kennedy told the congressman, adding later, “I’m telling you: The president’s policy is to save Medicare. That’s what he’s always said.”
After House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg, R-Mich., asked whether Kennedy was responsible for the measles outbreak, the secretary replied: “I’ve been accused of that. The accusation is not science-based.”
Kennedy noted that the Texas measles outbreak began in January 2025, and he didn’t take office until the following month. The outbreak originated in a rural Mennonite community with low vaccination coverage.
“The Mennonites have not vaccinated since 1796,” Kennedy said. “This has nothing to do with me.”
He claimed that the two young girls in Texas who died of measles last year were “treated as pariahs” at the hospital and could have been saved if they had received proper treatment. Such claims have not been verified.
The House Education and Workforce Committee has started its hearing with RFK Jr. on the administration’s priorities.
Kennedy repeatedly clashed with lawmakers over his stances on vaccines and overhaul of federal health agencies during two House hearings yesterday.
LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has no plans to resign over revelations that his scandal-tainted pick for U.K. ambassador to Washington was appointed despite failing security checks, officials said today.
Starmer says he was unaware that the Foreign Office had overruled the recommendation of security officials in early 2025 not to give Peter Mandelson the job. Many considered Mandelson a risky appointment because of his past friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Read the full story here.
SAO PAULO — Brazil’s former intelligence agency chief Alexandre Ramagem celebrated his release by Immigration and Customs Enforcement yesterday after a two-day detention.
Ramagem thanked Trump for his release, though he provided no evidence that the leader had had any connection with the move.
Ramagem, a former lawmaker, was sentenced in Brazil in September to 16 years in prison for his role in the coup attempt by supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in 2023. He fled the South American nation before he would have started serving his sentence.
“I am here to thank the U.S. government, the highest ranking members of the Trump administration,” Ramagem said on his social media channels. He added his release “did not require any bail payment, which is common in migration cases” like his.
The former intelligence chief was arrested on Monday in Florida, the same day Brazilian senator Jorge Seif told the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia his ally should not remain in custody because he was allegedly being persecuted at home.
Local media reported he was released late on Wednesday.
Ramagem had already filed for political asylum before this week’s incident, but his case has not yet been decided.
On Monday, Ramagem appeared as in custody in ICE’s online detainee database. ICE did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press about Ramagem’s release.
Ramagem was stripped of his seat in Brazil’s congress in December as a consequence of his conviction in the coup case.
Police say that Justin Fairfax, a former lieutenant governor of Virginia, shot and killed his wife before he died by suicide. The incident happened with both of their teenage children in the home. Court documents reveal that the couple was dealing with a contentious divorce. NBC News’ Ryan Nobles reports for “TODAY.”
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, who oversaw the agency during tumultuous immigration crackdowns, is leaving his post next month, the head of the Department of Homeland Security said yesterday.
“Thanks to his leadership, American communities are safer,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement. “We wish him luck on his next opportunity in the private sector.”
Read the full story here.
Iowa Democrat Josh Turek is out with his first TV ad of the Senate campaign, pledging to “take on Trump.”
The 30-second spot, shared first with NBC News, does not mention his opponent in the Democratic primary, state Sen. Zach Wahls. But it does feature footage of the likely Republican nominee, Rep. Ashely Hinson, standing behind Trump and wearing a red MAGA hat.
“Working families are losing their health care because of Trump’s Medicaid cuts. And our farmers are hurting from his tariffs. Iowans feel like they’re pushing uphill, and I know exactly what that feels like,” Turek says as footage plays of him using his wheelchair to go up a hill, “because it’s working-class families like mine paying the price for Trump’s war and Washington’s corruption.”
The ad will run on TV, streaming and digital platforms across the state, where Turek is seeking to fill the seat held by Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, who is not running for re-election.
Turek, who was born with spina bifida, is a Paralympian with two gold medals in basketball. He was first elected to the state House in 2022 and represents a district Trump carried in 2024.
Trump won Iowa by 13 percentage points in 2024, but that didn’t stop Turek from saying he’ll push back on the president if he’s elected.
“I opposed their Medicaid cuts, abortion bans and attacks on our rights, and I always will,” Turek says in the ad. “In the Senate, I’ll take on Trump, and no one will push harder for change.”
WASHINGTON — The House early this morning approved a short-term renewal until April 30 of a controversial surveillance program used by U.S. spy agencies in a post-midnight session after Republicans revolted and refused Trump’s push for a longer extension.
A new proposal was unveiled late yesterday that would have extended the program for five years with revisions. It was a departure from the clean 18-month renewal Trump had demanded and Speaker Mike Johnson had previously backed.
Read the full story here.
Democrat Analilia Mejia has won the special election to fill New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s seat in the U.S. House, NBC News projects, defeating Republican Joe Hathaway.
Mejia, a progressive activist backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., entered yesterday’s contest in the 11th Congressional District as the favorite. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the district by 9 points in the 2024 presidential election, while Sherrill carried it by 15 points in her campaign for governor last year. And Mejia had outraised Hathaway, a Randolph Township Council member, by 2-to-1.
Read the full story here.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will testify about the Trump administration’s priorities at another House committee hearing today after facing blistering criticism from Democrats at two committee hearings yesterday over his vaccine policy and overhaul of federal health agencies.
Both hearings were about the proposed budget for the Department of Health and Human Services next year. The department’s funding request includes a $15.8 billion reduction from this year, for a total of $111.1 billion.
Kennedy has said he intends to consolidate some of the health agencies within HHS and strengthen their focus on disease prevention.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during a hearing of the House Committee on Ways and Means on Capitol Hill yesterday. Heather Diehl / Getty Images
Large parts of the hearings focused on the sweeping changes Kennedy has made since he assumed the role early last year. Lawmakers commented on his overhaul of the childhood vaccine schedule to include fewer universal recommendations (changes that a judge later blocked), his expressions of doubt about the safety of measles vaccines and his suggestion that Tylenol use in pregnancy could be linked to autism.
Read the full story here.
NBC News