{"id":207981,"date":"2026-04-17T15:54:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T15:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-administration-live-updates-rfk-jr-faces-more-questions-today-after-barrage-of-criticism-at-house-hearings-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T15:54:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T15:54:29","slug":"trump-administration-live-updates-rfk-jr-faces-more-questions-today-after-barrage-of-criticism-at-house-hearings-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-administration-live-updates-rfk-jr-faces-more-questions-today-after-barrage-of-criticism-at-house-hearings-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump administration live updates: RFK Jr. faces more questions today after barrage of criticism at House hearings – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Democrat Analilia Mejia won the special election to fill New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill\u2019s 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<\/a>. The actions have since been blocked by a federal judge.
\u201cYou 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,\u201d Stevens said.
\u201cIt was dangerous,\u201d 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<\/a> 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.
\u201cYou think that we should recommend interventions that have not been safety-tested?\u201d 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\u2019s 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\u2019s department argued last year that there could be an association.
\u201cThe study is a garbage study. It should be retracted,\u201d 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<\/a> 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: \u201cI\u2019ve been accused of that. The accusation is not science-based.\u201d
Kennedy noted that the Texas measles outbreak began in January 2025, and he didn\u2019t take office until the following month. The outbreak originated in a rural Mennonite community<\/a> with low vaccination coverage.\u00a0
\u201cThe Mennonites have not vaccinated since 1796,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cThis has nothing to do with me.\u201d\u00a0
He claimed that the two young girls in Texas who died of measles last year were \u201ctreated as pariahs\u201d 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 <\/a>over his stances on vaccines and overhaul of federal health agencies during two House hearings yesterday<\/a>.
LONDON \u2014 British\u00a0Prime Minister Keir Starmer<\/a>\u00a0has no plans to resign over revelations that his\u00a0scandal-tainted pick for U.K. ambassador to Washington<\/a>\u00a0was 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.<\/em><\/strong><\/a>
SAO PAULO \u2014 Brazil\u2019s former intelligence agency chief Alexandre Ramagem celebrated his release by Immigration and Customs Enforcement yesterday after a\u00a0two-day detention<\/a>.
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\u00a0Jair Bolsonaro<\/a>\u00a0in 2023. He fled the South American nation before he would have started serving his sentence.
\u201cI am here to thank the U.S. government, the highest ranking members of the Trump administration,\u201d Ramagem said on his social media channels. He added his release \u201cdid not require any bail payment, which is common in migration cases\u201d 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\u2019s incident, but his case has not yet been decided.
On Monday, Ramagem appeared as in custody in ICE\u2019s online detainee database. ICE did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press about Ramagem\u2019s release.
Ramagem was stripped of his seat in\u00a0Brazil\u2019s congress in December<\/a>\u00a0as 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\u2019 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.
\u201cThanks to his leadership, American communities are safer,\u201d Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement. \u201cWe wish him luck on his next opportunity in the private sector.\u201d
Read the full story here.<\/em><\/strong><\/a>
Iowa Democrat Josh Turek is out with his\u00a0first TV ad<\/a>\u00a0of the Senate campaign, pledging to \u201ctake on Trump.\u201d
The 30-second spot, shared first with NBC News, does not mention his\u00a0opponent in the Democratic primary<\/a>, 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.
\u201cWorking families are losing their health care because of Trump\u2019s Medicaid cuts. And our farmers are hurting from his tariffs. Iowans feel like they\u2019re pushing uphill, and I know exactly what that feels like,\u201d Turek says as footage plays of him using his\u00a0wheelchair to go up a hill, \u201cbecause it\u2019s working-class families like mine paying the price for Trump\u2019s war and Washington\u2019s corruption.\u201d
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\u00a0Paralympian 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\u2019t stop Turek from saying he\u2019ll push back on the president if he\u2019s elected.
\u201cI opposed their Medicaid cuts, abortion bans and attacks on our rights, and I always will,\u201d\u00a0Turek says in the ad. \u201cIn the Senate, I\u2019ll take on Trump, and no one will push harder for change.\u201d
WASHINGTON \u2014 The House early this morning approved a short-term renewal until April 30 of a\u00a0controversial surveillance program<\/a>\u00a0used by U.S. spy agencies in a post-midnight session after Republicans revolted and refused Trump\u2019s 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\u00a0Trump<\/a>\u00a0had demanded and Speaker Mike Johnson had previously backed.
Read the full story here.<\/em><\/strong><\/a>
Democrat Analilia Mejia has won the special election to fill New Jersey Gov.\u00a0Mikie Sherrill<\/a>\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/em><\/strong><\/a>
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<\/a> 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\u2019s 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.
<\/span>Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during a hearing of the House Committee on Ways and Means on Capitol Hill yesterday.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Heather Diehl \/ Getty Images<\/span>
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<\/a>\u00a0to include fewer universal recommendations (changes that a judge later blocked), his\u00a0expressions of doubt about the safety<\/a>\u00a0of measles vaccines and his suggestion that\u00a0Tylenol use in pregnancy could be linked to autism<\/a>.
Read the full story here.<\/em><\/strong><\/a>
NBC News<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Democrat Analilia Mejia won the special election to fill New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill\u2019s 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.\u201cYou […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":207982,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-207981","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}