Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. publicly corrected Democrat Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut during a budget hearing over inaccurate statements about measles outbreaks in the U.S. and abroad. DeLauro suggested that the U.S. leads developed nations in measles cases, implying failures in public health policy under the current administration.
Kennedy, addressing the committee, disputed her claim by citing up-to-date statistics and global comparisons. “We have about 1,100 measles cases in this country,” Kennedy said. “Mexico has roughly the same number, but one-third of our population… 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 we have.”
Canada’s official health monitoring reported 1,506 measles cases across seven jurisdictions as of April 26. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) listed 1,001 confirmed cases as of May 8. Meanwhile, Mexico’s state of Chihuahua alone reported 1,041 cases. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has logged nearly 6,000 cases.
DeLauro’s argument tied to criticism of potential NIH budget cuts, asserting these would impact “life-saving” research. Kennedy responded that the U.S. measles data shows a plateau in growth, with only a slight increase from last year, undercutting claims that the administration is mismanaging public health.
Kennedy also clarified a misstatement by DeLauro, who invoked the broader “WHO European region,” which includes 53 countries—some outside traditional Western Europe and with significantly lower vaccination rates. He emphasized that countries typically compared to the U.S., like Great Britain, have seen no measles deaths this year.
