HHS Secretary Kennedy denounces NIH ossification, citing coordination via old boys' network at budget hearing

Oklahoma Congresswoman Stephanie Bice and HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy discuss changes and future vision for NIH, with the secretary asserting that the once premier gold standard scientific institution had been captured by industry and suffered from ossification due to leadership longevity and corruption, pointing to intelligence agencies' claims that the COVID-19 pandemic originated from research funded by NIH and outsourced to China, and outlining plans to refocus NIH narrowly on ending the chronic disease epidemic while ensuring scientific integrity through required replication of studies, publication of raw data and peer reviews, and shifting opportunities to younger scientists rather than maintaining the old boys network at a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education budget hearing for fiscal year 2026.