RFK Jr. Takes Big Step Toward Appointment as HHS Secretary
Robert F Kennedy Jr. has taken a big step toward being confirmed as the new Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). On Tuesday, his nomination was advanced by the Senate Finance Committee in a 14-13 vote with Republicans unanimously voting in favor of his nomination and Democrats universally voting against the nomination. While the committee voted along party lines, one Republican Senator took a great deal of convincing. U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said last week that he had serious reservations about whether Kennedy was qualified to head the HHS after questioning him at two confirmation hearings. Cassidy said he was struggling with the nomination due to Kennedy’s views on vaccinations.
For 8 years, Kennedy has led Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit activist group that has been called one of the main sources of vaccine misinformation. The group also campaigned against the fluoridation of U.S. drinking water, something Kennedy claimed in the election campaign that he was seeking to eliminate, despite the benefits to dental health. Cassidy is a lifelong supporter of vaccination and as a doctor has firsthand experience of the effectiveness of vaccines in saving lives. After observing a young woman die of liver failure from hepatitis B, Cassidy helped create a program offering free hepatitis vaccines to school children. Cassidy had serious concerns about voting to put a vocal vaccine skeptic in charge of the top U.S. health agency.
During the confirmation hearings, Kennedy was repeatedly asked about his views on vaccination and insisted he is not anti-vaccine, only concerned about their safety. He said he supports more stringent studies and safety tests and will follow the science. Kennedy has been presented with scientific data confirming the effectiveness of vaccines and their safety but has rejected some of that evidence. Kennedy had previously stated that there were safety problems with several common vaccines, including the vaccine that eradicated polio in the United States.
The Samoa Ministry of Health claimed Kennedy’s anti-vaccine rhetoric and his Samoa visit in 2019 exacerbated vaccine hesitancy in the country. The island nation of 200,000 people suffered a serious measles outbreak in 2019 with 5,700 people infected and 83 deaths, the majority of whom were children. Kennedy denied that his visit had helped to fuel anti-vaccination sentiment in the country and also claimed that most of the people who died did not have measles. Samoa’s health chief maintains that Kennedy misled the U.S. Senate on the deaths.
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At the confirmation hearings, Cassidy repeatedly tried to get Kennedy to reject theories that vaccines cause diseases such as autism, but Kennedy refused and asserted that the government has no good vaccine safety monitoring. Cassidy was particularly concerned about a potential measles outbreak in the United States if Kennedy was appointed as HHS Secretary and continued to doubt the effectiveness of the measles vaccine – a vaccine that has been licensed for use in the United States for decades.
If Cassidy had voted against party lines it would have been enough to derail Kennedy’s nomination; however, Cassidy was convinced to advance the nomination after speaking to Kennedy several times on the telephone and received reassurances and serious commitments from Kennedy. They include advance notice being given to Congress before any changes are made to vaccine safety monitoring, a commitment to allowing Cassidy to choose a representative who will be appointed to any board or commission formed to review vaccine safety, and a promise of an extremely close working relationship, including Kennedy meeting with Cassidy several times a month to build their relationship.
“We need a leader at HHS who will guide President Trump’s agenda to Make America Healthy Again. Based on Mr. Kennedy’s assurances on vaccines and his platform to positively influence Americans’ health, it is my consideration that he will get this done,” said Cassidy. “It’s been a long, intense process, but I assessed it as I would assess a patient as a physician. Ultimately, restoring trust in our public health institution is too important, and I think Mr. Kennedy can help get that done.”
Kennedy’s nomination will now progress to a full Senate vote, and with a 53-47 Republican majority, a unanimous vote along party lines will see Kennedy appointed as HHS Secretary. While Kennedy does have strong Republican support and the vast majority of Republican Senators are expected to vote in favor of Kennedy’s appointment, it is not guaranteed. A full Senate vote has yet to be scheduled.
