El-Sayed Plans Kennedy Probe Over Lettuce Parasite Outbreak
El-Sayed, who defeated Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s Senate race, said he wants to examine decisions behind staffing reductions at the Food and Drug Administration and the nation’s disease-control agency. He said the inquiry would seek accountability and ways to prevent future problems, rather than serve as retaliation.
The parasite was traced to shredded iceberg lettuce from a Taylor Farms facility in Mexico, served at Taco Bell and other restaurants. Michigan authorities recorded more than 15,000 cases, while the CDC counted more than 12,000 outbreak cases across 21 states. The CDC said the actual total was likely higher; the outbreak was declared over on September 11. Michigan also reported two deaths among people with underlying conditions.
Kennedy said in July that the outbreak was under control and rejected claims that staffing cuts had weakened the response. He said reductions affected FoodNet, a foodborne illness surveillance program, but not the surveillance program overall. In 2025, the CDC stopped requiring FoodNet to track cyclospora and five other pathogens, following a reduction in its funding.
El-Sayed has also criticized Kennedy’s leadership of HHS and said senators should closely scrutinize Trump administration nominees. Democrats’ Senate majority gives them committee leadership and subpoena authority starting January 3, when El-Sayed is expected to take office.
El-Sayed Targets Kennedy After Agencies’ Cuts and Lettuce Outbreak
A summer outbreak sickened thousands, and Michigan Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed says the decisions behind federal health agency cuts must face scrutiny. The cyclospora outbreak was traced to shredded lettuce from Mexico; Michigan authorities counted more than 15,000 cases, and the state reported two deaths among people with underlying conditions.
El-Sayed said he plans to examine staffing reductions at the FDA and CDC, arguing that the agencies were left scrambling. The CDC counted more than 12,000 outbreak cases across 21 states, while warning that the true number was probably higher. The outbreak was declared over on September 11.
Kennedy declared the outbreak under control in July and disputed claims that his cuts undermined the response. Yet the CDC had stopped requiring FoodNet reporting for cyclospora and five other pathogens in 2025 after the program’s funding was reduced. That decision raises questions about the government’s capacity to track foodborne illness as it spreads.
El-Sayed says the inquiry is about accountability and preventing another outbreak, not retribution. With Democrats set to control the Senate and gain committee gavels and subpoena power on January 3, he will have tools to press the administration. He has also said senators should apply intense scrutiny to Trump nominees, citing Kennedy’s leadership of HHS.
El-Sayed Puts Kennedy in Crosshairs Over Lettuce Outbreak
Michigan Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed is preparing an inquiry into Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over a lettuce-linked outbreak, while treating the episode as a test of the HHS secretary’s fitness. The outbreak was traced to shredded lettuce imported from Mexico and served at Taco Bell and other restaurants.
The CDC counted more than 12,000 cases across 21 states and said the number was likely higher. Michigan authorities recorded more than 15,000 cases, and the state reported two deaths among people with underlying conditions. The CDC declared the outbreak over on September 11.
El-Sayed blames staffing reductions at the FDA and CDC for leaving agencies scrambling and says Kennedy should be held accountable. But Kennedy said the outbreak was under control in July and rejected the claim that cuts had impaired the response. He said FoodNet reductions involved redundant surveillance, not the surveillance program overall.
An investigation can examine what happened, but El-Sayed has already signaled that he will begin from a presumption against supporting Kennedy’s nominees unless they clear an exceptionally high bar. That approach risks turning a public-health review into a political test. Democrats’ Senate majority will give them committee leadership and subpoena power starting January 3, when El-Sayed is expected to join the chamber.
Reported by New York Post, Daily Mail US.
