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RFK Jr., Alabama March & Midterm Gap: US Politics | May 16
Audio is available on Spreaker — see link below.
RFK Jr. faced bipartisan pushback over vaccines, CDC independence, and drug pricing in two days of Senate testimony. Plus: thousands march in Montgomery over redistricting, Newsom's Medicaid contradiction, and a six-point midterm polling gap with 29% still undecided.
Audio is available on Spreaker — see link below.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent two days in front of Senate committees this week, and what came out of those hearings wasn't just criticism from Democrats.
One of the sharper exchanges came when Kennedy was asked whether the incoming CDC director would be free to act on vaccine guidance without interference from his office. Kennedy said yes, the director could act independently.
On prescription drugs, Kennedy pointed to a new direct-to-consumer portal as evidence the administration is lowering drug costs. Senator Ron Wyden challenged that directly, saying the portal is offering prices higher than what most insured Americans already pay through their coverage.
In Montgomery, Alabama, thousands marched on May sixteenth to protest redistricting decisions that civil rights advocates say are dismantling congressional districts designed to protect Black political representation. The legal backdrop here is a series of Supreme Court rulings that have progressively weakened Voting Rights Act protections, with a recent Louisiana decision enabling states to redraw maps in ways that dilute minority voting power.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has spent months positioning himself as the leading Democratic opposition to the Trump administration. His revised state budget proposes cuts to Medicaid-funded home care services.
On the twenty twenty-six midterms, the generic congressional ballot as of May fifteenth puts Democrats at forty-eight point eight percent, Republicans at forty-two point two. That's a six-point gap.
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