From PBS NewsHour.
Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., questioned Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday about the elimination of dedicated federal funding for programs that support people with disabilities.
In a hearing on President Donald Trump’s 2027 budget request, Kim also noted that the Trump administration has proposed moving enforcement of rules on disability services in education from the Department of Education to the Department of Health and Human Services.
"I’m hearing from a lot of families that are very concerned, profoundly concerned about this kind of shift," Kim said.
Kennedy, who appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said he would be glad to follow up and was very committed to the disability community.
"I’m not sure you are," Kim interjected, referring back to the proposed program cuts.
Kim ended his line of questioning by warning Kennedy not to define young people by their disabilities or as patients, rather than as students with the same rights as everyone else.
In an earlier hearing, Kennedy faced questioning about his stance on vaccines, Trump’s drug website known as Trump Rx, as well as proposed cuts to Medicaid and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician and influential chair of the Senate Health Committee, had opportunities in both hearings Wednesday to press Kennedy, whose approach to vaccines he’s criticized in the past.
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