Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear sent President Donald Trump a letter Thursday demanding he immediately remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary, calling Kennedy “woefully unqualified” and warning that the country faces serious risk with him running the nation’s health department. Beshear said he would back impeachment efforts against Kennedy if they emerge in the next Congress, but hopes Trump acts first.
Beshear’s Case Against Kennedy
In the letter dated Nov. 12, Beshear called on Trump to remove and replace Kennedy, arguing that his leadership has led to preventable foodborne illnesses, recalls, spikes in infectious disease, and unknown billions in costs for families and businesses, according to the Kentucky Lantern. The governor accused Kennedy of putting American lives at risk by spreading misinformation about vaccines, according to WLKY.
Beshear also questioned Kennedy’s judgment by invoking a string of past controversies, saying Trump could have chosen someone who “didn’t put a dead bear in the back of their car and drive into New York City,” per the same WLKY report. According to the Courier-Journal, Beshear further referenced Kennedy allegedly placing a whale head atop his car, swimming in a polluted creek with a grandchild, and once snorting cocaine off a dirty toilet — all cited as reasons Trump should pick someone better.
Measles Numbers Driving the Letter
Beshear said Kentucky has had more measles cases this year than in the previous 35 years combined, and the Kentucky Lantern reported the state had topped 200 cases as of Thursday. The governor’s letter also pointed to Cyclospora outbreaks and a nationwide spike in foodborne illnesses and whooping cough this year as evidence of failed leadership at HHS, per the Lantern’s reporting.
National measles data adds further context, though with less certainty: the CDC reported 5,182 confirmed measles cases nationwide as of Nov. 5, 2026, a figure drawn from a lower-confidence snippet of CDC data. Separately, a CDC update tied to a multistate Cyclospora outbreak noted that more than 400 people across four states, including Kentucky, had been reported infected as of mid-July.
White House Pushes Back
White House spokesperson Allison Schuster responded that Trump and Kennedy have repeatedly encouraged measles vaccination, coordinated with states, and facilitated the deployment of vaccine doses across the country, the Kentucky Lantern reported. The statement did not directly address Beshear’s removal demand or his criticisms of Kennedy’s past conduct.
Beshear said he had not discussed sending the letter with other Democratic governors but believes many of them share his position on Kennedy. He also said he had not spoken with Kentucky’s federal delegation about a possible future impeachment push, though he would support one if it emerged, the Lantern reported.
A Separate Impeachment Effort Stalls
Beshear’s letter landed two days after the U.S. House voted in a procedural move to send Rep. Thomas Massie’s impeachment resolution against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to committee, a failed vote that effectively blocked the effort until the new Congress convenes in January, according to the Lantern. Congressional Republicans, aside from Massie, voted to effectively kill the process for now.
Beshear said he was saddened by the House vote and would support removing and replacing both Hegseth and Kennedy. He added that he had hoped losing a job would help congressional Republicans grow a spine, but it hadn’t.
The Legal Question Looming Over Removal
Whether Trump can simply remove Kennedy — or whether Congress would need to act through impeachment — touches on a broader constitutional debate. Per the Constitution Annotated, the president’s Take Care duty has long been cited as a basis for presidential authority to remove principal officers like Cabinet secretaries, though the extent to which that duty lets a president substitute his own judgment for a secretary’s remains an unresolved legal question.
