Why it Matters

The Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is preparing to scrutinize Biden-era health officials over COVID-19 vaccine safety signals in a congressional hearing that lands as the Trump administration's own handling of vaccine oversight is drawing fresh fire. Questions about who controls vaccine policy, who sits on advisory committees, and whether safety data was properly acted upon have become live political terrain, and this hearing puts all of it on the table.

The hearing, scheduled for April 29, is chaired by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who has long questioned the federal government's COVID-19 vaccine response. The subcommittee will examine Biden's health officials and the vaccine safety signals that emerged during and after the pandemic.

The CDC Committee Controversy

The backdrop for this hearing is a cascade of decisions at the Department of Health and Human Services that have rattled public health advocates and drawn congressional scrutiny from both parties. Just days before the hearing was announced, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) pressed HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. directly on the matter during a Senate Finance Committee session.

The exchange was pointed. Hassan asked whether President Trump had approved Kennedy's decision to fire CDC vaccine committee members in June 2025. Kennedy confirmed he had. When Hassan pressed further, asking whether Trump had authorized changes to the vaccine committee's charter, Kennedy said he was uncertain whether the matter had reached the president.

That exchange captures the core tension the subcommittee will be navigating: accountability for decisions made under the Biden administration, set against the backdrop of a current HHS leadership that has made its own sweeping changes to vaccine oversight infrastructure.

Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ), also a committee member, has been vocal about RFK Jr.'s funding cuts to health programs, arguing that "actions speak louder" than the administration's public health rhetoric. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has taken a different view, describing Kennedy's recent Senate testimony on the nation's health crisis as "powerful" and criticizing what he called tribalism getting in the way of solutions. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) has also engaged with Kennedy's public health positions in recent weeks.

Lobbying Disclosures Reflect the Stakes

Lobbying activity over the past year signals just how much is riding on federal vaccine policy decisions. Organizations spanning the health advocacy spectrum have spent heavily to influence the direction of CDC immunization programs and HHS leadership decisions.

Vaccinate Your Family Inc. filed multiple disclosures totaling $50,000 over the past year, lobbying on CDC Section 317 immunization program funding, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, and "conducting oversight of the Department of Health and Human Services." An earlier filing from the second quarter of 2025 noted that the organization had "prepared questions regarding vaccines for HHS Secretary confirmation hearings."

The Adult Vaccine Access Coalition reported $50,000 in lobbying during the second quarter of 2025 alone, focused on immunization access and coverage through Medicare and Medicaid.

The Association for Diagnostics and Laboratory Medicine reported $150,000 in lobbying during the second quarter of 2025, disclosing that it had written directly to Secretary Kennedy, urging the reinstatement of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Advisory Committee - one of several advisory bodies that have been restructured or dissolved under the current HHS leadership.

Concerns about CDC workforce reductions have also driven lobbying activity. The National Bleeding Disorder Foundation and the Hemophilia Alliance both disclosed in the second quarter of 2025 that they had written to Secretary Kennedy specifically about reductions in force at the CDC's Division of Blood Disorders and Public Health Genomics.

The Disability Community for Democracy Inc. filed disclosures in both the third and fourth quarters of 2025 opposing RFK Jr.'s proposed autism registry and what the organization characterized as misinformation about the causes of autism.

The Subcommittee's Scope

The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has historically served as one of Congress's sharpest investigative tools, with a track record of high-profile examinations of government and corporate conduct. Under Johnson's chairmanship, the panel has trained its attention on pandemic-era decisions, including questions about the origins of COVID-19 and the federal government's vaccine safety monitoring systems.

The framing of this hearing (examining Biden health officials alongside vaccine safety signals) suggests the subcommittee intends to revisit decisions made between 2021 and 2025 about how the federal government detected, reported, and responded to adverse event data associated with COVID-19 vaccines.

Ranking Member Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) has been active on committee matters in the run-up to the hearing, though his recent public communications have focused on other oversight concerns. Other committee members include Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL), Josh Hawley (R-MO), John Fetterman (D-PA), Bernie Moreno (R-OH), and Gary Peters (D-MI).

No witnesses have been publicly announced ahead of the April 29 session.

Access the Legis1 platform for comprehensive political news, data, and insights.