Democrat Congressman Tries 25th Amendment Stunt on RFK Jr. During House Hearing, Gets Shut Down

They really can’t help themselves.

Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. sat before the House Education and Workforce Committee on Friday to discuss the department’s budget proposal. Simple enough, right? It should have been a dry, numbers-focused hearing about the administration’s proposed 12% cut to HHS spending.

Instead, House Democrats turned it into a three-hour ambush. And the crown jewel of the afternoon? A California congressman actually asked Kennedy whether he would invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office.

Let that sink in. A budget hearing. And they’re asking about removing the sitting President of the United States.

Rep. Mark Takano looked Kennedy dead in the eye and asked if he would “insist that Trump undergo an assessment of his mental fitness and emotional stability.”

Kennedy didn’t flinch. His answer was two words: “Absolutely not.”

He followed up by calling President Trump “very, very sane.” The room erupted. Democrats were not pleased.

Conservative commentator Gunther Eagleman captured the exchange perfectly:

During a House hearing, Rep. Mark Takano asked HHS Secretary RFK Jr.: "Given everything I've shown you today, will you insist that Trump undergo an assessment of his mental fitness and emotional stability?"

Kennedy replied firmly: "Absolutely not." 🫳🎤pic.twitter.com/f8LDDrM3Tr

— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) April 17, 2026

But the 25th Amendment stunt was just the warm-up act. The real fireworks came when Democrats started grilling Kennedy about vaccines and the ongoing measles outbreak.

Rep. Linda Sanchez of California went after Kennedy hard, accusing him of pulling back CDC messaging that supported vaccination. She pointed to measles outbreaks affecting hundreds of Americans and two children who died in Texas earlier this year.

Kennedy pushed back forcefully. He acknowledged that the measles vaccine is “safe for most people” and admitted that the Texas children “could have potentially been saved with vaccination.” But he also defended unvaccinated communities and argued that families were “treated as pariahs” for their choices.

The Washington Examiner reported on the explosive exchange:

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced questions on Friday about whether he would support invoking the 25th Amendment if President Donald Trump were found unable to handle his office. The moment devolved into a shouting match. Kennedy responded that “There hasn’t been a president who is more sane.”

When Rep. Lucy McBath of Georgia questioned whether gun violence constitutes a public health crisis, Kennedy responded: “I would say it’s an epidemic. It’s a law enforcement issue, not public health.”

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Then Kennedy dropped a revelation that made headlines on its own. He told lawmakers that more than 36,000 doctors had their Medicare reimbursements altered based on childhood vaccination rates, essentially accusing the system of financially incentivizing doctors to push vaccines.

Defiant L’s posted the moment:

RFK Jr says doctors are being paid to vaccine. More than 36,000 doctors had their Medicare reimbursements altered based upon childhood vaccination rates. pic.twitter.com/pGvnJn9KuO

— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) April 18, 2026

Kennedy also went scorched earth on a Danish study that found no link between prenatal Tylenol use and autism, calling it “garbage in, garbage out” and demanding it be retracted.

At one point, Kennedy grew visibly agitated with the Democrats’ tactics. “They’ve all shut me up,” he said, complaining that lawmakers wouldn’t let him finish his answers before cutting him off with the next attack.

GV Wire had more on Kennedy’s shift on vaccine rhetoric:

In a notable shift, Kennedy testified that the measles vaccine is safe and effective “for most people” and agreed it was safer than getting measles. Under questioning, he also allowed that the vaccine might have saved the lives of two unvaccinated children who died of measles in Texas earlier this year.

The hearing came amid news that President Donald Trump plans to nominate Dr. Erica Schwartz, a pro-vaccine physician, as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The whole hearing was a microcosm of everything wrong with how Democrats approach oversight. They had a legitimate chance to press Kennedy on real budget questions. Instead, they spent three hours trying to score political points on the 25th Amendment, vaccine messaging, and gun control. And Kennedy held his ground on every single one of them.