CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten revealed Thursday that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is currently the “most popular” official in President Donald Trump’s cabinet, despite heavy criticism from Democrats and public health leaders.
According to Enten’s aggregate polling data, Kennedy holds a -7 net approval rating — higher than Vice President J.D. Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “RFK Jr. is not a drag on President Trump. He’s not the most embattled. In fact, he is the most popular official in Trump’s cabinet at least according to the poll,” Enten explained.
Kennedy has faced backlash for sweeping changes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He fired former CDC director Susan Monarez in August and dismissed 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in June, citing conflicts of interest. One member of the panel later resigned after Kennedy removed the COVID-19 vaccine from the childhood immunization schedule.
The secretary defended those moves in a heated Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing Thursday. Kennedy accused the CDC of “disastrous failures” during the pandemic, claiming its policies destroyed small businesses, violated civil liberties, and worsened economic inequality. He said his reforms were meant to restore the CDC as the “gold standard” of public health.
“These changes were absolutely necessary to restore the CDC’s role as the world’s gold standard public health with a central mission of protecting Americans from infectious disease,” Kennedy argued. “CDC failed that responsibility miserably during COVID when its disastrous and nonsensical policies destroyed small businesses, violated civil liberties, closed our schools and caused generational damage in doing so, masked infants with no science and heightened economic inequality.”
Despite his defense, Kennedy was sharply criticized by Democratic senators for undermining vaccine confidence and rejecting established science. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer were among the Democrats who publicly demanded his resignation following the hearing.
The showdown underscored the growing tension around Kennedy’s role in Trump’s cabinet. While popular with many Republican voters, his aggressive reshaping of federal health policy has made him a central target for Democrats, who argue his leadership threatens decades of progress in public health.