After hearings, RFK Jr. hasn’t swayed 3 key Republicans

Modern Healthcare – Thursday, January 30, 2025
By Michael McAuliff

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s chances of confirmation as Health and Human Services secretary appeared to hinge Thursday on convincing a handful of Senate Republicans that he would adhere to accepted science when it comes to vaccines.

During a hearing before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Kennedy faced tough questioning from Democrats and a few Republicans about his long history advocating against vaccinations and disseminating misinformation about the disproved link between vaccines and autism. In contrast, several Republicans expressed support for Kennedy’s stance on vaccines.

Three key Republicans pressed the prominent vaccine critic to moderate his past positions and unequivocally endorse vaccinations, starting with HELP Committee Chair Dr. Bill Cassidy (R-La.). Cassidy likewise challenged Kennedy during the Senate Finance Committee’s confirmation hearing Wednesday.

Cassidy declined to declare support for President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the nation’s highest-ranking health official during the hearing or when questioned afterward. GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) also have not declared support for Kennedy.

Murkowski said after the hearing that she remains undecided. “I have no late breaking news in terms of where I am,” she said. “I thought it was a very thorough hearing. Folks on both sides got an opportunity to raise the issues that everybody has.” Collins was not available to comment.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.), a polio survivor who was Senate Republican leader from 2007 until Sen. John Thune (S.D.) succeeded him this month, also has hinted he may oppose Kennedy.

“Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed — they’re dangerous,” McConnell said Dec. 13 in a statement that does not mention Kennedy by name. “Anyone seeking the Senate’s consent to serve in the incoming administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts.”

Kennedy could lose up to three Republicans and still be confirmed. The nominee needs 51 votes, and Republicans have a 53-47 advantage over Democrats in the Senate. If necessary, Vice President JD Vance would break a 50-50 tie in his constitutional capacity as president of the Senate.

If Cassidy, Collins, Murkowski and McConnell all vote nay, Kennedy would be one short, assuming every Democrat opposes him. Yet a few Democrats have not declared their positions on the nominee, such as Sens. Cory Booker (N.J.) and John Fetterman (Pa.).

The Finance Committee will vote whether to recommend confirmation to the Senate, while the HELP Committee will not.

The Finance Committee vote has not been scheduled but may come as soon as next week. Cassidy sits on the Finance Committee; Collins, Murkowski and McConnell do not.

Vaccines, over which Kennedy would have authority through the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other divisions of the Health and Human Services Department, also were a major focus of Kennedy’s session with the Finance Committee.

‘I’m struggling with your nomination’

At Thursday’s hearing, Cassidy, Collins, Murkowski and several Democrats quizzed Kennedy on his status as an influencer and said sowing doubt about vaccinations undermines safety for children.

Cassidy, a gastroenterologist who founded a vaccination clinic before entering electoral politics, talked about children who died because they were not vaccinated by parents worried about safety.

Influential people like Kennedy could convince parents otherwise, but haven’t, Cassidy said.

“That is why I’m struggling with your nomination,” Cassidy said. “Now my responsibility is to learn [and] try and determine if you can be trusted to support the best public health.”

Kennedy told the Finance Committee on Wednesday that would change his tune on vaccines if presented with scientific evidence they are safe and do not cause autism.

Cassidy took him up on the offer at the HELP Committee hearing, and presented Kennedy with a compilation of studies on vaccines. He also mentioned recent research suggesting that leading figures such as Kennedy are the driving force behind a rising number of parents believing in the vaccines-autism link.

Kennedy did not accept Cassidy’s evidence.

“I’m going to be an advocate for science,” Kennedy said. “There are other studies, as well, and I’d love to show those to you.”

Cassidy paused his questioning to go look up a study Kennedy recommended, but when he returned, he said there were problems with it, which he found emblematic of Kennedy’s style.

“I’ve approached it using the preponderance of evidence to reassure, and you’ve approached using selective evidence to cast doubt,” Cassidy said.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) made a similar comment during his exchange with Kennedy. “You’re not questioning science. You’ve made up your mind,” he said.

Murkowski pleaded with Kennedy to use his platform to take a strong stand that vaccines are safe.

“I am asking you on this, on the issue of vaccines specifically, to please convey — convey with a level of authority and science, but also with a level of conviction and free of conflict and free of political bias — that these are measures that we should be proud of as a country,” Murkowski said. “We can’t be going backwards with our vaccinations.”

Other Republicans side with Kennedy on vaccines

Underscoring how mainstream opposition to vaccinations and the false connection between childhood immunizations and autism have become, several committee Republicans came to Kennedy’s defense and lauded his efforts on the issue, including Sen. Dr. Rand Paul (Ky.), an ophthalmologist.

Another was Sen. Markwayne Mullen (R-Okla.), who was not pleased with his family’s experience with inoculations.

“When my kids come out from getting their vaccines, they look like a freaking pincushion. I mean, 72 vaccinations,” Mullen said. “I think there’s a reason we should be questioning this. When you start looking at the rise of autism, why wouldn’t we be looking at everything?”

Similarly, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said he is expecting his first grandchild and credited Kennedy with the parents’ choice to limit vaccines.

“You brought to light the vaccines over the last couple of years,” Tuberville said. “I get my first granddaughter in a couple weeks, and my son and his wife have done their research about vaccines. And she’s not going to be a pincushion. We’re not going to allow that to happen.”

Cassidy said he had a lot of thinking to do, and told Kennedy he may call him over the weekend.

Although vaccines were the dominant topic at the hearing, Kennedy also fielded questions on subjects such as Medicare, Medicaid, prescription drug prices, abortion and transgender health.

Kennedy said he was unfamiliar of the trillions of dollars in Medicaid cuts Republicans are considering and demonstrated a lack of understanding about the structure of the Medicare program, as he did at the Finance Committee hearing.

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