During Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s latest trip to Capitol Hill, he ostensibly made himself available to answer questions about his department’s proposed budget, which went about as well as expected. There was one part of the beleaguered secretary’s pitch, however, that stood out for me.
Democratic Rep. Lizzie Fletcher of Texas, for example, pressed Kennedy on proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health’s budget and the adverse consequences of such a move. He replied, “I don’t want to cut NIH programs, [White House Budget Director] Russ Vought doesn’t want to cut NIH programs; but we have a $39 trillion debt … and so we’re making cuts that are painful. Some of those are going to be at NIH.”
Also on Tuesday, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington pressed Kennedy on budget issues, noting the White House proposed slashing funding for preschool programs by $315 million.
“We’re asking about this because we have a $39 trillion debt that somebody else ran up, not this president,” Kennedy replied.
At this point, it’s tempting to try to explain to Kennedy that Trump added nearly $8 trillion to the national debt during his first term, and he added an additional $1.8 trillion during the first year of his second term. For the HHS secretary to suggest “somebody else” ran up the debt was obviously foolish.








