Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) filed articles of impeachment against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Wednesday, accusing him of abusing the powers of his office and undermining public health, putting Americans’ lives at risk.
He “has got to go,” Stevens said in a video announcing the impeachment articles. In an accompanying press statement, she said Kennedy, who rose to prominence as an ardent anti-vaccine activist, “has turned his back on science, on public health, and on the American people—spreading conspiracies and lies, driving up costs, and putting lives at risk.” She called him the “biggest self-created threat to our health and safety.”
It is very unlikely that an impeachment push will gain traction in the Republican-controlled Congress. No other Democratic lawmakers are backing the articles.
But such a move does have strong support among the scientific, medical, and public health communities. In September, the American College of Physicians independently called for Kennedy’s removal, similarly claiming his actions have “undermined and destabilized our public health infrastructure, shown a blatant disregard for decades of evidence-based, proven science, and have spread dangerous medical misinformation, sowing chaos and confusion and putting lives at risk.” Later that month, more medical and health organizations, led by the Infectious Disease Society of America and including the American Public Health Association, released a joint statement calling for Kennedy’s removal. The statement has now been cosigned by more than 50 health and medical organizations.
“Reckless”
Stevens’ impeachment articles were directly supported by a grassroots political organization advocating for the country’s scientific community, called Stand Up for Science.
Colette Delawalla, the group’s founder and CEO, was quoted in Stevens’ press announcement, saying Kennedy’s actions are “negligent and will result in harm and loss of life. He must be impeached and removed.”
In the 13-page impeachment articles filed, Stevens accuses Kennedy of high crimes and misdemeanors, citing a lengthy list of actions Kennedy has taken that have been widely decried by public health, scientific, and medical experts as harmful. Those include gutting funding for research, including cancer, addiction, and mRNA vaccine technology; making the work of the US Department of Health and Human Services less transparent by ending public comment periods for some actions; making false and misleading health statements, particularly about vaccines; firing the entire panel of vaccine advisors for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; hiring a slew of his fellow anti-vaccine activists to undermine public health from within the health department in roles for which they are unqualified; and making unilateral changes to federal vaccine recommendations.
“Under his watch, families are less safe and less healthy, people are paying more for care, lifesaving research has been gutted, and vaccines have been restricted,” Stevens said. “His actions are reckless, his leadership is harmful, and his tenure has become a direct threat to our nation’s health and security.”
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