At the end of summer, Congress is often sleepy, and slowly gets back to work. But this past week was an exception. On Capitol Hill, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrived, and the controversial Health and Human Services Secretary sparked a reckoning over public health in America.

At a hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, Kennedy defended the Trump administration's policies : "We at HHS are enacting a once-in-a-generation shift from a sick-care system, to a true health care system that tackles the root causes of chronic disease," he said.

Tempers ran hot at the hearing. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) said, "This is not a podcast. It is the American people's health that is on the line here."

Democrats rebuked Kennedy, perhaps the most high-profile member of President Donald

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