Washington DC - Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently threw Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. under the bus by revealing the US is doing a U-turn on vaccine funding.

On Tuesday, Rubio testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, during which he was asked about funding for Gavi – an organization that provides immunizations for low-income nations – amid an ongoing Ebola outbreak.

"So, how are you making sure that Secretary Kennedy – who has been sitting on those funds for months now - is going to release them so that they can go to help develop a vaccine to address the Ebola outbreak?" asked Senator Jeanne Shaheen.

Rubio explained that though the State Department has previously handled Gavi, President Donald Trump let Kennedy "play a role" in deciding its funding due to his "strongly held views regarding vaccine safety."

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But now, the State Department is looking to take back the reins.

"The State Department is going to be re-engaging," Rubio said.

"I'm not here to tell you we're going to yank this thing and we're not going to listen to his points of view – but the State Department, a few weeks ago, made the decision that we were going to re-engage on this issue of Gavi."

Gavi has long relied on the US as one of its biggest donors, but last year, Kennedy – an anti-vaccine advocate who has pushed unfounded claims that they cause autism – cut funding completely, accusing the organization of having "ignored the science" on vaccines.

Since Trump appointed him to the role, Kennedy has actively tried to reshape HHS and the federal government's views and public rhetoric surrounding vaccines. He has changed federal vaccine scheduling recommendations and pushed to reduce the amount of vaccines administered, among other moves.

Last month, Trump praised Kennedy for his work and insisted that lowering the number of vaccines would help save "beautiful little babies" from harm.