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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended billions of dollars in cuts and thousands of firings at his department, as well as his response to a fast-growing measles outbreak, on Wednesday during his first Congressional testimony as U.S. health secretary.

Kennedy testified before the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee's health subcommittee on his department's proposed budget for the 2026 fiscal year on Wednesday morning, and later answered questions for the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

Since he was confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services in February, Kennedy has slashed 10,000 jobs including at the FDA, CDC and National Institutes of Health, part of the Trump administration's campaign to shrink the federal workforce.

Kennedy says his top priorities as health secretary include identifying the environmental contributors to autism and tackling rising rates of chronic disease.

Kennedy, who for years has sown doubt over the safety and efficacy of vaccines, has also drawn condemnation from health officials for what they say is a weak endorsement of measles shots during an outbreak that has infected more than 1,000, mostly unvaccinated, people and killed three.

"All while you peddle unfounded and dangerous vaccine skepticism, spread lies and misinformation about people living with autism," said Representative Rosa DeLauro from Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee.

Asked if he would give his children the measles vaccine today, Kennedy did not respond directly.

"Measles? Probably for measles, what I would say is my opinions about vaccines are irrelevant," he said. "I don't think people should be taking advice, medical advice, from me."

Kennedy was asked about recommending the MMR shot at the Senate hearing. "I'm not going to just tell people everything is safe and effective if I know that there's issues," he said without providing details or evidence of such issues.

Wednesday's hearings were meant to address Kennedy's health-related spending plans under President Donald Trump's budget proposal. The plans include an $18 billion cut to NIH funding and $3.6 billion from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Democrats and other critics have portrayed the cuts as a gutting of the country's public health infrastructure. Kennedy told the Appropriations Committee they would save taxpayers $1.8 billion per year and make the department more efficient.

"Our reductions have focused on aligning HHS staffing levels to reflect the size of HHS prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw around a 15% increase in the number of employees," Kennedy said in his opening statement to the House subcommittee.

The cuts and firings were his decision, not edicts from Elon Musk, Kennedy said when asked about the billionaire Trump ally's involvement. Musk is leading the DOGE initiative to cut government funding and reshape the federal bureaucracy.

"Elon Musk gave us help in trying and figuring out where there was fraud and abuse in the department," Kennedy testified. "But it was up to me to make the decision, and there are many instances where I pushed back."

'DIRECT REASSURANCE'

HELP Committee Republican Chair Senator Bill Cassidy, a doctor from Louisiana who was crucial to Kennedy's confirmation despite expressed wariness about the nominee's anti-vaccine history, had called on the HHS secretary to appear before lawmakers in April to explain the layoffs and restructuring.

"Much of the conversation around HHS' agenda has been set by anonymous sources in the media and individuals with a bias against the president," Cassidy said. "Americans need direct reassurance from the administration, from you, Mr. Secretary, that its reforms will make their lives easier, not harder."

Cassidy at one point contradicted a Kennedy statement on how vaccines are tested.

Kennedy said he was willing to work with Democrats on lowering prescription drug prices in response to a question from Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who votes with Democrats.

Trump signed an executive order on Monday directing drugmakers to lower their prices to align with what other countries pay that analysts and legal experts said would be difficult to implement.

Sanders said the order would probably be thrown out in court and asked if Kennedy would work with him on legislation instead.

"I look forward to working with you on legislation or any way that we can to get there," Kennedy said.

Audience members at the HELP hearing wore stickers saying "When Bobby lies, children die," and "anti-vax, anti-science, anti-America" in reference to Kennedy's vaccine views.

Some audience members shouted: "RFK kills people with AIDS" before being escorted out of the room by capitol police.

(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Additional reporting by Katharine Jackson in Washington and Michael Erman in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Bill Berkrot)