It was, in one sense, a tough week for RFK Jr., who was bludgeoned in the Senate for his management

of the Centers for Disease Control and for his views on vaccines.

But he fought back and continues to carry out his revolutionary agenda with speed, enthusiasm,

and with the apparent support of his boss.

And halfway around the world, America's adversaries

gathered in Beijing in a show of force

that highlighted their strengthening alliance

and their growing contempt for the United States.

Next.

This is Washington Week with the Atlantic.

Good evening and welcome to Washington Week.

Scientists have endorsed the efficacy of vaccines for quite literally hundreds of years. It's always

worth noting that George Washington himself had his troops vaccinated for smallpox. So naturally,

in the year 2025, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy,

Jr. spent a day debating vaccination with various senators of both parties. He also spent a good

deal of time answering questions about his management of the agencies responsible for protecting

the nation's health, including and especially the Centers for Disease Control. In normal times,

these extraordinary arguments would be the only news we'd be talking about, but this is also the week we saw China, Russia,

and America's now possibly former quasi-ally, India, create a tacit alliance against Trump.

Joining me tonight at the table to discuss all of this, Elizabeth Bue Miller, a writer at large at the New York Times.

Leanne Caldwell is the chief Washington correspondent for Puck.

Stephen Hayes is the editor of the dispatch, and Vivian Salama is a staff writer at the Atlantic.

...