House members got their first opportunity Thursday to grill Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as he kicked off a marathon series of seven congressional hearings in seven days with back-to-back hearings in the Ways and Means and Appropriations Committees.
In the two appearances, his first before Congress in 2026, Kennedy defended his record in leading the nation’s health agency as Democrats sought to push back against proposed budget cuts and changes to vaccine policy.
Kennedy faced a very different political environment from the one in which he appeared before Congress seven months ago, when his “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement seemed to be at its most politically powerful.
Kennedy and his allies last year overhauled the childhood vaccine schedule to recommend fewer shots while also shaking up key leadership positions across health agencies.
But with an eye on the 2026 midterm elections, the White House wants Kennedy to stop talking about vaccines and focus on other MAHA “wins.”



Analilia Mejia, a progressive Democrat, pulled off a decisive win against a Republican opponent to serve the remaining term of a vacant New Jersey House seat.
Michigan’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate is a three-way dead heat, according to a new poll conducted for Drop Site News and Zeteo.
Two shipments from Britain of military components bound for Israel have been seized in Belgium, which has banned aircaft carrying military equipment for Israel from stopping in the country or using its airspace.
US Vice President JD Vance's address at an event on Tuesday drew widespread ridicule after images of sparsely filled seating circulated, with critics saying voters were increasingly unwilling to support politicians they see as backers of Israel’s wars on Iran and Palestine.
I am a proud Jewish American. My father fled Poland in 1921 to escape poverty and antisemitism. Those in his family who stayed were murdered by the Nazis. Since childhood, I have known very well where antisemitism, racism, fanaticism and demagoguery lead.
Protesters decrying delays to funding in the battle against HIV/Aids charged into a congressional hearing where the Trump administration’s budget czar, Russell Vought, was testifying in Washington on Wednesday.
A striking 40 Democratic and allied senators voted to block a shipment of American-made bulldozers to Israel on Wednesday. The vote represented the biggest-ever rejection from Congress of American military aid for the country, demonstrating that widespread public frustration with devastating U.S.-Israeli cooperation — in Palestine, Lebanon, Iran and beyond — is resonating among lawmakers to a new degree.
About 70 vehicles were involved in a major pileup on a section of a Colorado highway, sending eight people to the hospital, amid hazardous cold weather, authorities said.





























