RFK Jr. Rebuts Rep. DeLauro on Measles Data During Capitol Hill Hearing

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pushed back against claims made by Democrat Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut during a congressional hearing this week, presenting updated global measles data to correct her assertions about the United States’ standing in the outbreak.

The exchange occurred during a House appropriations subcommittee hearing in which DeLauro questioned whether the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was cutting funding for research programs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

As part of her line of questioning, DeLauro stated that the U.S. was experiencing higher numbers of measles cases compared to other countries and implied that research cuts could worsen the situation.

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Kennedy directly challenged the accuracy of DeLauro’s claim and provided comparative data from several countries.

“Let me address your issue first, because I want to correct you,” Kennedy said.

“We have about 1,100 measles cases in this country. The growth rate last year was 15 additional, so we have plateaued. Mexico has roughly the same number, but one-third of our population and they got 300 extra cases last week. Canada has more measles, 1,500, they have one-eighth of our population. Western Europe has about 6,000 which is ten times the number that we have. You are wrong about what you said earlier.”

DeLauro had previously cited the World Health Organization’s European region, stating, “The Europe you are referring to is the WHO European region, which has 53 countries in Europe and in Asia, including those with low vaccination rates like Romania that has never eliminated measles. If you compare us to Western European countries that we often compare ourselves to like Great Britain, they have seen no measles deaths this year.”

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Kennedy maintained that such comparisons did not reflect the full context of global measles trends and emphasized that several nations with smaller populations are reporting higher case counts relative to the U.S.

As of May 8, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed 1,001 cases of measles in 31 U.S. jurisdictions, including states such as New York and Texas.

Canada, according to the government’s measles and rubella monitoring report published April 26, has recorded 1,506 cases across seven jurisdictions.

In Mexico, the health department of the state of Chihuahua confirmed 1,041 measles cases as of the end of last week.

Meanwhile, nearly 6,000 measles cases have been reported across Europe, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

The number has been internally confirmed to the CDC by the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a spokesperson who spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The data points cited by Kennedy reflected a broader view of current measles activity across North America and Europe, contradicting DeLauro’s suggestion that the U.S. was experiencing the worst measles outbreak among developed countries.

The exchange between Kennedy and DeLauro comes as federal health agencies and lawmakers continue to monitor global infectious disease trends and assess ongoing public health funding strategies.

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