Democrats Eye Hearings, Subpoenas and Impeachment for RFK Jr. After Midterm Sweep

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will face a very different Congress in January.

Democrats won both chambers in the Nov. 3 midterms, which hands them control of the key committees, including those overseeing health care. Party insiders are already discussing hearings, subpoenas and possible impeachment proceedings against the Health and Human Services secretary.

Calls to impeach are getting louder

On Friday, Nov. 6, Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told CNN's Pamela Brown that Democrats should use their new majority to impeach Kennedy and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He said they should not impeach President Trump.

The idea predates the election. Rep. Haley Stevens previously introduced articles of impeachment against Kennedy, saying he "has turned his back on science and the safety of the American people." Kennedy, Hegseth and Education Secretary Linda McMahon all faced impeachment inquiries before the election.

Erik Polyak, executive director of the Democratic PAC 314 Action, put it bluntly after the election. "We're going to see RFK Jr.'s head on a platter," he said. His group spent more than $30 million this cycle, the most in its 10-year history. Polyak called targeting Kennedy the group's "biggest motivator and fundraising tool" and said Democrats would investigate "every conflict of interest."

That is a PAC saying out loud that Kennedy is a fundraising asset.

Who is coming for him

Two incoming senators ran directly against Kennedy. Annie Andrews, a Democratic pediatrician who criticized Kennedy throughout her campaign over his questioning of vaccine safety, won her Senate race in South Carolina. She reportedly called Kennedy her "professional archnemesis for decades" and supports impeaching him.

Abdul El-Sayed, the senator-elect from Michigan, told CNN he plans to look into Kennedy's cuts to the FDA and CDC and how they affected this summer's explosive diarrhea outbreak, which was traced to tainted lettuce. "This is not about retribution for something past," El-Sayed said. "This is about understanding what happened, holding people accountable for what they did, and then solving the problem moving forward."

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), expected to chair the House Oversight Committee, put out a two-word warning: "LAWYER UP." NPR, citing Democratic committee staffers, reports the party's oversight list is long and runs well beyond HHS, including the Epstein files. Democrats released a report in June on how they believe the administration has undermined public health infrastructure and scientific research, and that work is expected to continue with a particular focus on Kennedy.

Kennedy also loses a Senate ally. Sen. Roger Marshall, who founded the congressional MAHA Caucus in December 2024 and was a senior member of the Senate health committee, lost to Democrat Adam Hamilton, a Methodist megachurch pastor. Hamilton is the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in Kansas since 1932. Of the 21 federal candidates MAHA groups endorsed, 11 lost, six won and four races remained undeclared. All six winners were in uncompetitive races.

The measles argument

The case against Kennedy centers on measles and his questioning of vaccine safety. Protect Our Care, a Democratic-aligned health advocacy group, says CDC data now show more than 5,000 cases this year across 45 states, 96% of them among unvaccinated people or people with unknown vaccination status. The group also says the CDC still refuses to acknowledge eight measles-related deaths this year. Those claims come from the group, not from a CDC statement.

Kayla Hancock, director of the group's Public Health Project, said Kennedy "should have resigned in disgrace long ago" and that impeachment "may be the only way out of this mess."

Critics also point to how Kennedy has run the department. They cite closed offices and redirected appropriated funds, including the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which remains open but with most of its funding taken away.

Georges Benjamin, CEO of the American Public Health Association, said Kennedy will be "on the hot seat a lot" and predicted "he's going to be miserable in terms of the oversight that he's going to see."

The department's response

HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon answered the impeachment push by saying Kennedy is focused on improving Americans' health and lowering costs, "not on partisan political stunts." Emily Hilliard, the department's senior press secretary, told Politico that Kennedy "will continue delivering President Trump's Make America Healthy Again agenda."

There is also a political risk on the Democratic side. Joe Cunningham, a South Carolina Democrat who voted to impeach Trump and lost his 2020 reelection bid, told The Epoch Times he could argue that vote cost him his seat, though he has no regrets. He warned that an impeachment proceeding would "consume all the oxygen" and could hurt Democrats in purple districts. His comments were about a possible Trump impeachment, not Kennedy's.

The math

A House majority can impeach. Removal requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate. Benjamin was frank about it: "Is it possible they might try to impeach him? It's possible, but you've got to get a two-thirds vote to do that, and whether you can get enough Republicans to come on board, I don't know."

No source reviewed here identifies a Republican who has said he or she would vote to convict. Hearings and subpoenas need no such supermajority; the new majorities will have the full investigatory powers of Congress, including the ability to subpoena records and compel testimony.

The new Congress convenes in January. The first test will be whether House Democratic leaders move on impeachment articles like those Stevens introduced, and whether any Senate Republicans signal they would convict.

The other open question is whether Kennedy stays. Benjamin said Cabinet secretaries sometimes leave on their own at the midpoint of an administration. Former HHS official Steven Grossman wrote in a MedPage Today opinion piece that he now suspects Kennedy "will leave (resign) rather than face congressional challenges." Meanwhile, MAHA movement figure Tony Lyons said he would work with congressional Democrats open to Kennedy's plans on issues MAHA cares about.