Senator Bernie Sanders has said he is “absolutely open” to impeaching Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., putting the Trump administration's top health official on notice weeks before Democrats take control of the Senate.

The Vermont independent, who caucuses with the Democrats, made the remark on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, 8 November, five days after the midterm elections handed Democrats control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Host Dana Bash asked Sanders whether he agreed with Senator-elect Annie Andrews of South Carolina, a paediatrician, who has said Kennedy should be removed from his role as the nation's top health official.

“I am absolutely open to that,” Sanders replied. “The bottom line is we need a secretary of HHS who is concerned about the health and well-being of our kids and all Americans, not involved in crazy conspiracy theories.”

He added: “I'm open to all ideas from Dr. Andrews or anybody else.”

Sanders is set to chair the Senate health committee from January, after Democrats gained seven Senate seats in the midterm cycle and won the Senate majority. He said he planned to use that position to question Kennedy directly.

“We're going to bring him in front of the committee,” Sanders said. “That's for sure. And ask him some tough questions that have not been asked of him previously.”

Andrews, who will be the Senate's first paediatrician, defeated appointed Senator Darline Graham in South Carolina on 3 November. Her criticism of Kennedy and the Trump administration's handling of health care was a central part of her campaign, and she has described Kennedy as a “grifter”. She is not alone among the incoming Democratic senators: Michigan's Abdul El-Sayed, also a doctor, has likewise said he would launch impeachment proceedings against the health secretary.

Other senior Democrats have named Kennedy as a leading target for the new Congress. Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina told CNN that Kennedy and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth were the House majority's top two targets, saying Democrats should pursue “corrections to the chaos, the cost, and the corruption that's running rapid in Washington today”.

Senator Ralph Warnock of Georgia went further on social media, writing: “Unless RFK Jr. is interested in spending the next two years in front of Congressional committees, he should go ahead and resign now.”

Kennedy's department has pushed back. Health and Human Services spokesperson Grace Jamison said in a statement: “Secretary Kennedy has delivered the most sweeping public health reforms in modern history. He will continue to put prevention at the center of health care to end the chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again. Threats of impeachment will not distract him from delivering for the American people.”

Kennedy has long faced criticism from both parties over his scepticism about vaccines, and his supporters and critics alike see him as the public face of the Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, movement. The movement, which Kennedy championed during his 2020 presidential campaign and as health secretary, promised sweeping changes to nutrition, medicine and public health policy.

The midterm results were a heavy blow for MAHA's political allies. Several Kennedy-backed candidates lost, including Kansas Senator Roger Marshall, who chaired the congressional MAHA Caucus, and Iowa gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn, the movement's first endorsement of the midterm cycle. Some MAHA activists are now openly discussing whether to recast their message to appeal to Democrats on shared concerns such as healthier food and environmental safety.

Not all Democrats are keen on an impeachment fight. Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine, who will chair the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, told CNN: “I don't think Democrats will have a huge impeachment agenda, but I think we have so much work — investigating, subpoenaing, getting down to records, looking for collusion.” She said she would “absolutely” call in Lee Zeldin, director of the Environmental Protection Agency, over deregulation of environmental toxins.

Some MAHA supporters have warned Democrats against targeting Kennedy. Zen Honeycutt, founder of Moms Across America, said impeaching him would be a “colossal mistake”, arguing that many independent voters who see Kennedy as their champion would never vote Democrat again if they “mess with Kennedy”.

Kennedy himself has shown no sign of backing down. After Trump announced on Friday that chief of staff Susie Wiles would be replaced by Stephen Miller, Kennedy praised the appointment, writing on X: “Next to me, Stephen Miller is the strongest MAHA supporter in the administration. It's time to unleash the Kraken.”

Whether impeachment moves beyond talk will depend on the new Congress when it takes its seats in January. For now, Sanders' words make clear that Kennedy will face sustained scrutiny from the Senate committee that oversees his department.