Earlier this month, Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin confronted RFK, Jr, about the lead abatement program in Milwaukee and the work they were supposed to be doing for Milwaukee Public Schools, but the entire staff had been fired. RFK, Jr, lied to her face and denied that they had been fired and that he was working with them himself.
Baldwin sat down with Matt Smith of WISN-TV’s UpFront program to discuss the confrontation:
SMITH: You’ve had some recent interactions back and forth with the HHS Secretary. First off, was that your goal to have some exchanges that receive some attention?
BALDWIN: You know, I wanted to raise issues very relevant to Wisconsin because we are sort of experiencing a lack of responsiveness because of decisions he made or happened under his watch. The one that has been so troubling to me is the displacement of about 1800 school children in Milwaukee Public Schools, because six schools have lead and needed to close. And when Milwaukee called the Center for Disease Control and the branch that is focused on lead remediation, all the employees, all the experts there had been fired. And I wanted to hold RFK accountable. He’s the secretary of the agency and allowed these massive layoffs and firings to happen under his watch.
SMITH: What did you make when he came back and said, well, we have a team on the ground in Milwaukee, Senator?
BALDWIN: That’s just not the case. My understanding is that there’s a piece of equipment that was sent, but that’s not a substitute for the experts in epidemiology and analytics that have built up expertise over years.
SMITH: You’ve seemed to indicate you’re going to or are working with HHS. I mean, are we going to see a team on the ground? It seems like RFK, Jr has potentially given you some assurances.
BALDWIN: The head of the division where all of these employees worked as of this week, said none of them have been rehired.
SMITH: So, what’s going to happen?
BALDWIN: We’re going to keep on raising the heat for this. this cabinet secretary to do his job. And to be transparent and honest, I mean, that wasn’t the only thing I asked him about in the two times he appeared, although it’s something that I want to make sure we continue to hold his feet to the fire. But I talked about Head Start funding and got his commitment on the record, by the way. that unlike what we had heard prior from the administration, they were going to eliminate Head Start across the country, that they are going to keep a commitment. I’ll believe it when I see it, right? But that’s important.
Baldwin might not bring the high heat that AOC or Jasmine Crockett brings, but one shouldn’t understimate the power of slow heat over time. Baldwin is not about to let this go by any stretch.
