President Donald Trump dismissed concerns about elevated gas prices before departing for Las Vegas, where he will promote his tax agenda.
“They’re not very high,” Trump said outside the White House Thursday.
When a reporter pushed back, the billionaire president responded: “If you look at the stock market, it is up. Everything is doing really well.”
The national average cost for a gallon of gasoline stands at $4.09, up from $2.92 before the Iran war broke out, according to AAA. In Nevada, prices are pushing $5 a gallon.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the president reignited his ongoing feud with Pope Leo over the war in Iran — a conflict the pontiff has repeatedly condemned.
"The Pope has to understand Iran, very simple, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” the president said. “The world would be in great danger."
After touching down in Sin City, Trump is scheduled to join a roundtable discussion and then deliver a downtown hotel speech centered on his “no tax on tips” policy.
Earlier on Thursday, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced questions from lawmakers in back-to-back hearings over his vaccine agenda and planned budget cuts.
RFK Hearing
- Trump says gas prices are 'not very high'
- Trump to travel to Las Vegas today to promote his tax policies
- Kennedy quizzed about a report that he severed a dead raccoon's penis
- Democrat hones in on comments Kennedy made about black children
- Republican asks Kennedy about improving 'diet and exercise' in America
Our live coverage has ended
21:13 , Brendan RasciusOur live coverage has ended. Here’s a recap of today’s events:
- On Thursday morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held a briefing on the Iran war, where he said the U.S. military remains “locked and loaded” should hostilities resume and accused members of the media of being “unpatriotic.”
- HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took part in back-to-back hearings on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers questioned him over his vaccine policy and proposed budget cuts.
- During a break in the hearing, Kennedy faced an awkward question from a reporter, who asked him about a report that he once severed a dead raccoon's penis.
- Outside the White House, President Donald Trump dismissed concerns about elevated gas prices, claiming that they are “not very high.” He also renewed his feud with Pope Leo over the Iran war.
- On Thursday afternoon, the president departed Washington for Las Vegas, where he will take part in a roundtable discussion to promote his “no tax on tips” policy.
Trump says fighting will resume in Iran if a peace agreement is not reached during the ceasefire
21:02 , Brendan RasciusPresident Trump said that hostilities will restart in Iran if a peace agreement is not made before the two-week ceasefire expires.
"If there's no deal, would you be willing to extend the ceasefire or will fighting resume?" a reporter asked the president outside the White House on Thursday afternoon.
“If there's no deal, fighting resumes,” Trump said.
Kennedy says HHS employees fired by DOGE failed to protect public health
20:57 , Brendan RasciusDuring his second congressional hearing on Thursday, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed that the department employees purged by DOGE last year were fired because they failed to protect public health.
“It was their job to protect us, and they did not do it. They failed at their job," Kennedy said.
“If this was private industry, they would have all been fired,” he added. “We did what we had to do to change the culture at these agencies.”
Trump says gas prices are 'not very high'
20:28 , Brendan RasciusOutside the White House on Thursday afternoon, President Donald Trump said gas prices are “not very high.”
A reporter asked him how much longer Americans will continue to see elevated prices at the pump.
“Well, they're not very high,” the president responded.
The reporter noted that they are still $4 a gallon.
“That's what ABC says, but the stock market is up,” Trump shot back. “Everything is doing really well.”
On Thursday, the average nationwide price for a gallon of gasoline stood at $4.09, up from $3.16 one year ago, according to AAA.
Kennedy says Trump will announce his CDC nominee this week
20:22 , Brendan RasciusKennedy said he believes President Trump will announce his nominee to lead the CDC this week.
"I expect that President Trump, I believe that he is going to release the nominations of the new team at CDC, including the new CDC administrator or director, this week,” he told the committee. “hopefully today or tomorrow.”
Democrat asks Kennedy about his stance on raw milk
20:15 , Brendan RasciusRep. Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, grilled Kennedy over his advocacy of raw milk following a multi-state outbreak of E. Coli infections linked to cheese derived from raw milk.
“I know you have been a staunch advocate of raw milk…despite federal health agencies warning of safety risks,” DeLauro said.
Kennedy noted that the FDA does not regulate raw milk, and that oversight is done at the state level.
“You are the head of HHS,” the lawmaker responded. “If raw milk has the ability to put 9 people in the hospital…is there not some moral responsibility or compunction to say don’t drink raw milk?”
Kennedy's second hearing is underway
20:02 , Brendan RasciusKennedy is now addressing the House Appropriations Committee, marking his second appearance before Congress today.
Trump to travel to Las Vegas today to promote his tax policies
19:35 , Brendan RasciusPresident Donald Trump is scheduled to travel to Las Vegas on Thursday, one day after Tax Day, to promote his tax policies.
The White House said the president will participate in a roundtable discussion and make a speech at a hotel downtown.
Trump says he's inviting leaders of Israel and Lebanon to White House after ceasefire is announced
19:09 , Brendan RasciusShortly before noon on Thursday, President Donald Trump announced that the leaders of Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 10-day ceasefire.
“I will be inviting the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu, and the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, to the White House for the first meaningful talks between Israel and Lebanon since 1983, a very long time ago,” he wrote on Truth Social
The hearing has adjourned
18:21 , Brendan RasciusThe committee hearing has adjourned. Kennedy will next appear before the House Appropriations subcommittee at 2 p.m.
Democrat presses Kennedy on health care premiums
17:59 , Brendan RasciusRep. Steven Horsford, a Nevada Democrat, pressed Kennedy about what he’s doing to lower health care premiums and protect coverage.
“We negotiated the lowest drug prices in history,” Kennedy said. “In terms of insurance coverage, we’re doing many many things within the agency.”
Horsford was not satisfied with his response.
“I’m asking about tangible actions and results,” he said. He then accused Kennedy of wasting precious time by hosting a podcast.
Later, Kennedy asked the congressman to “calm down,” resulting in a heated back-and-forth exchange.
“Do not tell me to calm down,” Horsford said.
Kennedy is asked about expired ACA subsidies
17:52 , Brendan RasciusRep. Max Miller, a Republican from Ohio, pressed Kennedy on solutions to the nation’s health care challenges, citing the expiration of Affordable Care Act subsidies in January.
“In terms of fixing the system, I really think that we need to go to more individual choice and competition and…take the money away from insurance companies and give it to individual Americans," Kennedy responded.
The hearing has resumed
17:43 , Brendan RasciusAfter a lengthy recess, Kennedy’s House hearing has resumed.
Kennedy quizzed about a report that he severed a dead raccoon's penis
17:33 , Brendan RasciusWhile the House hearing was in recess, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was asked about a report that he severed a dead raccoon’s penis.
“Secretary, what did you do with the raccoon’s dead penis? Where is it now?” a TMZ reporter asked him while he walked the halls of Congress with a coffee in hand.
Kennedy laughed, but didn’t respond.
Earlier this week, The New York Post reported that Kennedy penned a 2001 diary entry about collecting roadkill for further study.
“I was standing in front of my parked car on I-684 cutting the penis out of a road killed raccoon, thinking about how weird some of my family members have turned out to be,” Kennedy wrote, according to the outlet, citing a forthcoming book.
Iran war powers resolution fails in the House
17:22 , Brendan RasciusA war powers resolution seeking to constrain President Donald Trump’s authority to wage war against Iran failed in the House on Thursday.
The resolution, brought forward by Democrats, failed in a 213-214 vote.
Kennedy’s approval rating is underwater, recent poll shows
17:11 , Brendan RasciusWhile the hearing is in recess, here’s a look at where the American public stands on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In a YouGov/Economist survey conducted earlier this month, 49 percent of respondents said they held an unfavorable view of Kennedy, while a smaller share, 38 percent, said they have a favorable opinion.
The vast majority of Republicans, 71 percent, held a positive view, while 79 percent of Democrats had a negative view.
GOP lawmaker says his family was 'hurt' by administration's comments about autism
16:59 , Brendan RasciusRep. Blake Moore, a Utah Republican, whose young son has autism, said his family was “hurt” by the Trump administration’s comments about the neurodevelopmental disorder.
Last year, President Donald Trump instructed pregnant women to avoid taking Tylenol, claiming it is linked to an increased risk of autism.
“My wife was hurt, and she felt for a split second until she came to her senses and we talked about this, that there was any way she was responsible,” Moore told Kennedy. “We don’t even know she took Tylenol during her pregnancy, but that was a hurtful moment for her.”
Multiple studies have found no increased risk of autism in children exposed to Tylenol during pregnancy.
Republican criticizes Democratic colleagues for questioning Kennedy’s qualifications
16:39 , Brendan RasciusBeth Van Duyne, a Texas Republican, sharply criticized her Democratic colleagues for questioning Kennedy’s qualifications.
She told Kennedy that, throughout history, there had been “zero” Democrat-appointed HHS secretaries with medical degrees.
Democrat says vaccine panel's hepatitis B decision was 'incredibly harmful'
16:32 , Brendan RasciusRep. Judy Chu, a California Democrat, criticized a decision by a vaccine advisory panel to reverse a longstanding recommendation that newborns get vaccinated for hepatitis B within one day of being born.
“You’ve done an incredibly harmful thing to our community,” Chu told Kennedy. “You eliminated the mandatory hepatitis B vaccine for newborns, and it disproportionately threatens Asian Americans, because while we make up 7 percent of the population, we account for 60 percent of all hepatitis B cases.”
Kennedy responded that babies have “essentially have zero risk” of getting hepatitis B unless the mother is infected.
Republican again asks about rural health care
16:26 , Brendan Rascius“I am wondering if you could just talk a little bit about what the administration’s plan is to reduce health disparities in rural areas,” Rep. Michelle Fischbach, a Minnesota Republican, said.
“The administration would love to work with Congress on the wage area index,” Kennedy said.
He added: “We made the biggest investment in history on rural health care, we’re continuing to make additional investments.”
The exchange was one of many focused on rural health care.
GOP lawmaker asks Kennedy about claims that numerous kids went missing during Biden's term
16:19 , Brendan RasciusRep. Greg Steube, a Florida Republican, asked Kennedy about claims that numerous children went missing during former President Joe Biden’s administration.
“It was a humanitarian crisis, what my predecessor engineered,” Kennedy said, referring to Biden’s immigration policies. “They lost 425,000 children because they ended verification of sponsors.”
“We are now in the process of trying to find those children,” the secretary added. “We’ve been able to locate 138,000 of them…many of them, as you say, have been trafficked.”
Republicans have long claimed that more than 300,000 unaccompanied children had been "lost" after an August DHS report showed ICE did not serve notices to appear in court to 291,000 children between 2019 and 2024.
Some experts have disputed this characterization.
"This is not a 'missing kids' problem; it's a 'missing paperwork' problem," Jonathan Beier, an associate director of research at the Acacia Center for Justice's Unaccompanied Children Program, told CBS News.
WATCH: Kennedy denies on the record comment saying Black kids are 'standardly' put on meds that 'induce violence'
16:08 , Brendan RasciusWatch Kennedy’s heated exchange with Rep. Terri Sewell about Black children on medication below.
Kennedy questioned about artificial food dyes and microplastics
16:06 , Brendan RasciusRep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, questioned Kennedy about artificial food dyes, which the secretary has worked to crack down on.
“We need to really make sure that any ingredient in our food is safely tested first,” Kennedy said. “That’s what they do in Europe, that's what they do in other nations.”
“We would love to work with you on that legislation,” he added.
Fitzpatrick then turned to the subject of microplastics.
“The amount in our brains has doubled over this last five years,” Kennedy said. “It is an existential crisis.”
He said his department is working to identify specific microplastics and trace their pathways in order to “better regulate them.”
Democrat hones in on comments Kennedy made about black children
15:47 , Brendan RasciusRep. Terri Sewell, an Alabama Democrat, got into a heated exchange with Kennedy over comments he previously made on a podcast about black children.
“You said every black kid is now just standardly put on Adderal, SSRIS, benzos, which are known to induce violence and that those children are going to have to go somewhere to get reparented,” Sewell said. “There is a lot to unpack in that comment.”
She then asked the secretary if he had ever “reparented” a black child.
“I don’t even know what that phrase means,” Kennedy responded. “I can’t answer something that I didn’t say.”
“You absolutely said it,” the lawmaker shot back.
“I’d like to hear the recording,” Kennedy responded.
Kennedy indeed made the comments during a podcast interview last year.
'As a mother, this horrifies me:' Democrat slams Kennedy over his vaccine stance
15:22 , Brendan RasciusRep. Linda Sanchez, a California Democrat, tore into the HHS secretary of his remarks about vaccines.
“You espoused numerous disproven theories,” she said, adding that he specifically expressed skepticism about the measles vaccine.
“A deadly measles outbreak in Texas killed a six-year-old, the first such death in a decade,” Sanchez. “As a mother, this horrifies me.”
She then accused Kennedy of having the wrong priorities, mocking a recent video of the secretary drinking milk in a hot tub with Kid Rock.
“You’ve got a lot of misinformation there,” Kennedy shot back. “We’ve done better at preventing measles than any country in the world.”
Democrat slams Kennedy for 'undermining black maternal health'
15:11 , Brendan RasciusRep. Danny Davis, an Illinois Democrat, slammed Kennedy over the White House’s proposed budget cuts, claiming they pose a danger to pregnant women.
“Black women are nearly three times as likely to die from pregnancy related causes as white women,” Davis said. “Yet the Trump administration is undermining black maternal health. President Trump just proposed cutting maternal and child health programs by over $800 million.”
Democrat says Kennedy's 'conspiracy theories' have put Americans at risk
14:58 , Brendan RasciusRep. Mike Thompson, a California Democrat, accused Kennedy of undermining vaccines and putting Americans at risk.
“Kids have died because measles is running rampant under your watch in large part because President Trump allowed your conspiracy theories to run our public health,” he said.
Since January 2025, there have been 3,564 confirmed measles cases in the U.S., marking the largest number of cases since 2000, according a report last month from Harvard University.
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Kennedy is again asked about fraud
14:50 , Brendan RasciusRep. David Schweikert, an Arizona Republican, offered up more questions on fraud.
“New York state pays, on average, 80 percent more per capita on Medicaid than any other state,” Kennedy said. “Part of the reason for that are these waiver programs that many of the states have applied for and received.”
“Waivers allow family members who are taking care of an elderly parent for balancing the checkbook, for groceries…these are family members who are getting paid to do things that they used to do as family members for free, and this is rife with fraud because we have no way at CMS to determine whether they perform that duty or not.”
“We are paying as much for fraud now as we are for medicine,” Kennedy added.
Kennedy speaks of his focus on rural health care
14:41 , Brendan RasciusRep. Adrian Smith, a Nebraska Republican, asked Kennedy about what he’s done to improve rural health.
“We’ve seen closures of 120 rural hospitals since 2010…it is a crisis,” Kennedy said. “President Trump made the biggest investment in rural health care in American history, a $50 billion dollar health transformation fund.”
Democrat accuses administration of hypocritical stance on fraud
14:37 , Brendan RasciusRep. Richard Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat, lazered in on Kennedy’s focus on combating fraud, suggesting the administration has been hypocritical.
He listed off the names of several executives convicted of fraud who have been pardoned by President Donald Trump in the past year.
“If we’re gonna talk about fraud, it’s not just the people on the lower end of the economic scale,” Neal said. “If we’re gonna pursue fraud, Mr. Secretary, it has to be across the board.”
Republican asks Kennedy about improving 'diet and exercise' in America
14:33 , Brendan RasciusRep. Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican, asked Kennedy what can be done to address “diet and exercise” in America.
“We brought together the best nutritionists in this country,” Kennedy said. “A dozen of them worked 11 months to reform the dietary guidelines.”
He said the previous food pyramid — which had “Fruit Loops” at the top — was driven by corporate interests and did not promote healthy living.
“That’s the beginning,” Kennedy said. “We have to drive those changes into the food culture in our country.”
Kennedy delivers opening remarks
14:28 , Brendan Rascius“President Trump and I are challenging the status quo and the institutions that defend it as we work to make America healthy again,” Kennedy said in his opening remarks.
He then listed off a number of his accomplishments, which he said included cutting red tape, demanding transparency and cracking down on fraud.
He specifically pointed to his department’s new dietary guidelines, protecting children from “sex-rejected procedures” and expanding rural health care.
Democrat accuses Kennedy of making 'baseless claims'
14:23 , Brendan RasciusRep. Richard Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat, is tearing into Kennedy on a host of issues.
He accused Kennedy of making “baseless claims about Tylenol and autism” and claimed that his agenda includes “obstacles to better health care.”
The hearing has started
14:16 , Brendan RasciusRep. Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican who chairs the committee, has kicked off the hearing.
In his opening remarks, he discussed lowering the cost of health care for rural Americans and addressing fraud in the health care system.
“We must hold the criminals who steal billions from the American people accountable,” he said.
The hearing will center on Trump's proposed HHS budget, which includes 12 percent cuts
14:11 , Brendan RasciusThe hearing, which has not yet started, is officially about the White House’s proposed HHS budget.
The budget calls for about $111 billion in discretionary funding — marking a 12 percent reduction from current spending levels.
Americans remain hotly divided on vaccines: poll finds
14:02 , Brendan RasciusKennedy is expected to face a string of questions from Democrats over his skepticism of vaccines — which Americans are hotly divided over.
According to a March Politico poll, 46 percent of Americans believe the “facts on vaccines are still up for debate,” while 39 percent said the “science on vaccines is clear.”
An additional 15 percent agreed with neither answer.
RFK Jr. is heading to Capitol Hill for a hearing
13:31 , Brendan RasciusHHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is heading to Capitol Hill for his first of seven hearings on his 14-month tenure.
The hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee will kick off at 9 a.m.
