WASHINGTON–If you wanted to summarize Sen. Angela Alsobrooks’ work in her first 16 months in Congress, you could do so in three letters: RFK.
The senator’s viral verbal spats with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are what she’s become known for – a small signifier of the larger policy connection Alsobrooks is making with healthcare legislation.
Alsobrooks said her motive in targeting the secretary is a matter of protecting Maryland’s extensive network of healthcare institutions.
“I have been fighting for the health and safety of Maryland families, and to preserve the integrity of our premier health institutions, which he has been hellbent on destroying,” Alsobrooks told Capital News Service. “I was hearing from so many [National Institutes of Health] workers and scientists in my state about just how dangerous this man was.”
RFK Jr. and the NIH did not respond to requests for comment.
Alsobrooks ran her campaign on two main issues: women’s reproductive rights and Democratic control of the Senate. While both will likely remain unchanged in Alsobrooks’ first term, her motive in pivoting toward healthcare legislation may have been in spearheading bills more likely to pass in a Republican-dominated Congress.
But there’s also a personal stake in the matter for Alsobrooks, who said her experiences as part of the “sandwich generation,” a term for adults who take care of both their children and their elderly parents, inspired her work to broaden and strengthen healthcare programs.
“I am caring for an aging parent, while also supporting my college-aged daughter,” Alsobrooks, age 55, wrote in an email exchange with CNS. “For me, that means thinking about my mother’s health, while also thinking about my daughter’s future, her education, and the kind of world she is going to inherit.”
Alsobrooks’ focus on healthcare comes at a crucial moment for Marylanders, still reeling from federal layoffs that took place at the beginning of her term in early 2025. More than 31,000 federal jobs have been eliminated in Maryland alone, about 15% of the state’s federal workforce.
LaMonika Jones, Director of State Initiatives for the Food Research and Action Center, said many federal workers are applying for food aid for the first time despite income-based restrictions.
“We’re in unprecedented times when it comes to what we’re experiencing and what we’re facing in terms of administering our programs at the state level,” Jones told CNS.
Through her continuous work in the healthcare space, Alsobrooks has carved out a niche in one of the congressional policy areas with the most bipartisanship. It’s something the junior senator has consistently prioritized in a Republican-controlled Senate, where less agreeable bills are unlikely to gain traction.
“Food is not a party line issue, it’s not a line item on a budget. Everyone has to eat,” Jones said. “When we think about the need for us to nourish ourselves, to feed our families, to feed our children, that’s not an issue that should lie within one just one party, that is an absolutely bipartisan issue.”
Alsobrooks said her background as the former Prince George’s county executive informed some of her focus on bipartisanship.
“I have a background as an executive, so I have a unique experience and expectation to get things done. That’s why I am so often willing to work across the aisle to get legislation passed,” Alsobrooks said.
But when it comes to RFK, the senator can’t turn down a good fight.
Alsobrooks’ term started with a bang after a contentious interaction with Kennedy at his confirmation hearing in January 2025 garnered over 18 million views on X. The senator called Kennedy “dangerous” over his claims that Black Americans should receive a different vaccine schedule.
“Let me just ask you then,” Alsobrooks said, removing her glasses, “What different vaccine schedule would you say I should have received?”
Since then, the senator has mentioned Kennedy on her X page more than 70 times, calling for his resignation at every turn.
In September 2025, Alsobrooks published a 54-page report alongside Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-OR, titled “Costs, Chaos, and Corruption.” The original report chronicles every day of Kennedy’s actions during his first 203 days in a February, they published an updated 72-page report covering the entire first year.
“It’s an almost impossible task to keep up with all the devastating actions RFK Jr. is taking,” Alsobrooks said.
Some of Alsobrooks’ first health bills came in the summer months of 2025, the most notable being the U-FIGHT Act introduced in late July. Focused on expanding research on uterine fibroids, the bill garnered support from actresses Lupita Nyong’o and Mandy Moore, who met with the senator in September to discuss their experiences with fibroids.
Dr. Robert Miller Jr., president of the National Medical Association, told CNS the senator’s effect on health legislation in her first year has been apparent.
“Her impact is huge as a young, new senator out of Maryland. People are listening for what she has to say because of her unique and fresh view of things,” Miller said. “Her impact by engaging in this legislation, it hasn’t even reached its pinnacle yet.”
The senator also introduced the Healthy MOM Act in November, proposing a special enrollment period for expectant mothers to receive coverage through the Affordable Care Act. The act is one of 14 bills in the “momnibus,” a legislative package designed to address nationwide maternal mortality rates.
Alsobrooks continued to introduce healthcare bills earlier this year in accordance with International Women’s Month, including the Extending WIC for New Moms Act and the Women’s Heart Health Expansion Act.
“Cardiovascular health and support for women is something that shouldn’t be partisan, and it’s kudos to Senator Alsobrooks and her willingness to, especially in such a divisive time, to find ways to reach across the aisle,” Miller said.
Now, over a year after Alsobrooks became the first senator to call for RFK’s resignation, she continues to target his rhetoric and actions daily. Alsobrooks said her consistent campaigning against him, along with his growing controversy among Republican senators, has made his resignation more popular.
“More of my colleagues have joined me in calling on RFK Jr. to resign or be fired. They’ve seen how his actions and rhetoric have hurt their constituents and knew they needed to speak up,” Alsobrooks said. “My resolution of disapproval now has 28 cosponsors. This time last year, it only had 3.”