() Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before both chambers of Congress on Wednesday and faced questions from lawmakers over his first months leading the agency.

Since his confirmation as the nation’s top health official, Kennedy has fired thousands of workers, consolidated the nation’s health infrastructure, canceled scientific funding grants and sent mixed messages on the measles outbreak.

Kennedy appeared before the House Appropriations subcommittee Wednesday morning and also appeared at the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Wednesday afternoon.

Protestors briefly interrupted the Senate hearing just as Kennedy was making his opening statements.

In both meetings, the Trump administration’s proposed budget, including a $500 million request from the Department of Health and Human Services to boost Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, were discussed.

“The United States remains the sickest nation, and we spend $4.5 trillion annually on healthcare,” Kennedy said. “Two to three times more per capita than comparable nations. Clearly, something is structurally and systemically wrong with our approach.”

President Donald Trump’s budget proposal also outlines cuts to maternal health, infectious disease prevention and preschool programs.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., railed against the administration’s proposed $33 billion cuts to the department in her opening remarks, saying Americans would “die of needless and preventable deaths” if the proposal were adopted.

DeLauro also warned that “by promoting quackery, we are endangering the health of the American people with pseudoscience, fear-mongering and misinformation.”

Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., told Kennedy that Congress wants to partner with him and that “we share your goal to ‘Make America Healthy Again,’ and we look forward this morning to your testimony.”

Kennedy said he intends to make “the Trump HHS not just the most effective, but also the most compassionate in U.S. history.”

Kennedy said the budget would consolidate programs on addiction and mental health, promote healthy nutrition and activity habits and equip the FDA to expand its food safety efforts.

He said HHS plans on stepping away from research that focuses on “radical gender ideology.”

The hearings follow months of anticipation. Kennedy was expected to appear before the Senate committee in April amid massive changes in HHS.

Questioning shifted from finances to Kennedy’s departmental shake-up and controversial focuses on autism, food dyes and fluoride, among other topics.

During the Senate meeting, Kennedy said he has pushed back on some of Elon Musk’s recommended firings at some of the agencies under HHS, like the NIH. He also said that he can reinstate the employees that were previously fired and that he has done so.