Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced federal lawmakers for the first time since September, defending a more than 12% proposed budget cut to his department's budget before the House Ways and Means Committee. During testimony, Kennedy emphasized the administration's work to reform dietary guidelines and crack down on waste, fraud and abuse. Democrats, who have been critical of Kennedy's overhaul of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, also questioned his efforts to pull back vaccine recommendations and messaging, which they claimed have caused unnecessary deaths. A heated exchange occurred when Rep. Linda Sanchez asked Kennedy to answer for the fact that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had withdrawn public health messaging supporting vaccination under his leadership. Kennedy denied these statements, stating that he had previously made remarks he'd made about psychiatric drugs.