Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi Demands Information on RFK Jr.’s Life-Threatening Approach to Bird Flu Crisis
Washington, D.C. (June 11, 2025)— Today, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Healthcare and Financial Services, led Members of the Subcommittee in sending a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. demanding information surrounding the decision to cancel a contract with producers of an avian influenza (avian flu) vaccine amid an uncontrolled avian flu outbreak across the nation.
“On May 28, 2025, Moderna announced that HHS canceled a $766 million contract with the company to develop vaccines for influenza strains that could cause future pandemics, including avian flu,” wrote the Members. “[A]vian flu is dangerous and uncontrolled. Instead of moving forward with promising vaccines, however, your department has endorsed unorthodox and untested strategies to contain the outbreak. For example, in March, you considered the ‘possibility of letting [avian flu] run through the flock so that we can identify the birds, and preserve the birds, that are immune to it,’ to be a potentially effective strategy to end the bird flu epidemic. Three weeks ago, you advised Canadian authorities against culling 400 ostriches that had been exposed to avian flu, despite the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s statement that culling the birds was part of the agency’s duty ‘to protect Canadians from the serious potential risks that avian influenza presents to our people and our economy.’”
Secretary Kennedy’s dangerous approach to the avian flu crisis is not new. Subcommittee Democrats first sent Secretary Kennedy a letter on April 1, 2025, questioning the Secretary’s willingness to let avian flu “run through the flock,” rather than attempt to mitigate the outbreak. Avian flu poses a serious threat to the health and safety of Americans, and to date has resulted in the culling of hundreds of million birds, the infection of dairy cattle herds across the country, illness, and the death of at least one person.
“You have advocated for these unproven approaches despite the fact that USDA recently issued a conditional license for an updated avian flu vaccine that could protect poultry from the disease. There are also promising results in clinical trials for a modern vaccine that could be used to quickly vaccinate human populations in the event of a pandemic. I am concerned that your longstanding vaccine hesitancy—including your statement that ‘[t]here’s no vaccine that is safe and effective’—appears to be influencing federal policy,” added the Members.
To fully understand how HHS is approaching this public health crisis, Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi and Members of the Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services request all relevant documentation and communication regarding the avian flu outbreak by June 25, 2025.
Click here to read the letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
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