CDC's childhood lead program is still defunct, despite Kennedy's claims

RFK Jr. claimed in a Senate hearing that the childhood lead program was still being funded. But staffers remain on administrative leave with terminations set for June.

The federal government’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program is not operating, despite Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claims that it's being funded.

The program’s 26 staffers were placed on administrative leave in April, with terminations set for June 2, as part of a broader restructuring of federal agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services.

To date, none of the staffers have been reinstated, with layoffs set to take effect in less than two weeks, said Erik Svendsen, director of the Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice, a department within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that includes the childhood lead program. 

Kennedy had faced criticism in recent weeks from Democratic senators over the gutting of the program, which assisted state and local health departments with blood lead testing and surveillance.

At a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, Kennedy told Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., that the program was still being funded. The week before, he told Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., that he had no plans to eliminate it.