Haley Stevens introduces articles of impeachment against federal health secretary RFK Jr.

Updated at 3:13 p.m.

A second member of Congress representing Michigan has filed articles of impeachment against a member of President Donald Trump’s White House cabinet, this time in the form of U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, who said Wednesday that she would soon issue an impeachment resolution against U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The Birmingham Democrat announced her intentions to do so in September, and was following through on Wednesday, she said during a virtual press call. Stevens added that Kennedy has turned his back on science, on public health, and on the American people.

“Secretary Kennedy is driving up costs, endangering lives, undermining public health, betraying public trust, and threatening Michigan families and our world class research institutions. These are violations of his oath of office,” Stevens said in a virtual press conference. “We are in a public health emergency. It is time to protect science, protect lives and to hold him accountable. RFK Jr’s dangerous misinformation campaign is undermining public trust in doctors, researchers and life saving medicine. We’ve seen him fire vaccine experts and replace them with conspiracy theorists who are making Americans, specifically children, more vulnerable to deadly diseases.”

Stevens said the most recent example of Kennedy violating his oath was the agency’s guidance on Hepatitis B vaccines, with a recommendation against infants receiving early vaccination. That guidance, coupled with Kennedy’s “outlandish claims” about Tylenol causing Autism and his cuts to cancer research programs, was a line in the sand for Stevens that Kennedy squarely crossed.

“Michigan is home to world class research institutions. Our universities … save lives and create good paying jobs,” Stevens said. “I’ve heard from Michigan researchers, doctors who are doing cutting edge pediatric cancer research in my state, that their funding is being slashed. RFK’s cuts are preventing Michigan’s best and brightest from fighting childhood cancer. It’s cruel.”

Andrew Nixon, communications director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services communications, said Kennedy “remains focused on improving America’s health and lowering costs, not on partisan theatrics designed to elevate standing in a failing, third-rate Senate bid.”

Nixon also said the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended individual-based decision-making for Hepatitis B vaccines, specifically for infants born to women who have tested negative for the Hepatitis B virus.

“ACIP recommends the initial dose be administered for those babies no earlier than two months of age. However, babies born to mothers have HepB or have unknown status are still recommend the vaccine on day 0,” Nixon said.

For Stevens, however, “enough was enough.”

“This is about protecting the health and safety of Michigan families and every American,” she said. “I will always stand up for science, truth and the health of every family. And that is what this is about. This is what leadership looks like, and this is what Michigan deserves.”

Last week, U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Detroit) introduced articles of impeachment against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, charging him with murder and conspiracy to murder, and for reckless and unlawful mishandling of classified information.

U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar introduces articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

In light of Thanedar’s resolution against Hegseth and now hers aimed at Kennedy, Stevens was asked what the reaction was on Capitol Hill from her fellow Democrats and their leadership in Democratic U.S. House Minority Leader Hakim Jeffries.

Stevens said she was eager to have her colleagues stand alongside her, but wasn’t going to speak for Jeffries and other members of House Democratic leadership.

“I worked very closely with the House Energy and Commerce Committee staff on the Democratic side, Democratic ranking member Frankfurt Malone, and I am very eager to have our Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, stand alongside me as this moves forward,” Stevens said. “This is obviously a very serious moment in our country and for public health. I was also very pleased to work with an organization called to stand with science, comprised of scientists and medical researchers and advocates who want to see this action go forward.”

This story was updated to include comment from a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson.