Under intense senatorial grilling on Wednesday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. outlined his plans to head the Department of Health and Human Services while reversing his earlier positions against vaccines and in favor of abortion.
Kennedy, a former independent presidential candidate, is one of President Donald Trump’s more unconventional Cabinet choices, as both the left and the right have expressed doubt over his candidacy.
While Democrats posed the most aggressive questions during his three-and-a-half-hour appearance before the Senate Finance Committee, Kennedy also faltered when he was questioned about Medicaid by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a physician who is anticipated to be crucial to his confirmation.
Kennedy claimed that the deductibles and premiums for Medicaid were excessively costly and that the majority of program participants were “not happy.” However, the majority of Medicaid enrollees do not have to pay deductibles or premiums.
Kennedy will speak on Thursday before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which is chaired by Cassidy. He disregarded an NBC News query about whether he was prepared to back Kennedy following the hearing.
Democrats frequently brought up Kennedy’s lengthy history of vaccine skepticism at Wednesday’s hearing. He attempted to preempt criticism of the matter in his opening remarks, which caused a protester in the gallery to briefly explode.
“News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry,” Kennedy stated.
The individual exclaimed, “You are!” before being escorted from the room.
Kennedy went on: “I am pro-safety, but I am neither. I spent years trying to educate people about the harmful chemicals and mercury found in fish, but that didn’t make me anti-fish. I think vaccines are essential to health care, and all of my children have had them.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the panel’s top member, and Kennedy got into a heated argument early in the hearing as Wyden tried to clarify Kennedy’s position on the measles vaccination.
“Is measles deadly, yes or no?” Kennedy did not explicitly respond to Wyden’s query. Kennedy argued once more that he had nothing against vaccines.
In a 2023 podcast, Kennedy stated, “There is no vaccine that is safe and effective.” Wyden questioned him about this statement.
None of them can be true, Mr. Kennedy. So, when you claim to be pro-vaccine today, are you lying to Congress? Wyden uttered those words.
Kennedy asserted that his podcast claims had been consistently refuted.
Additionally, he said that he would not discourage Americans from receiving specific vaccinations.
I am in favor of the measles vaccination. I am in favor of polio vaccination. Kennedy stated that as HHS Secretary, he would not take any action that would hinder or deter patients from taking medication.
Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat from Colorado, became enraged at another point when he questioned Kennedy about some of his earlier remarks.
Did you mention that Lyme disease is a materially manufactured bioweapon with a high probability? Did you mention that Lyme disease is probably a bioweapon that has been manufactured by the military?
Kennedy remarked, “I probably did say that.”
Bennet then questioned Kennedy about his prior pro-abortion remarks. Kennedy started to complain, but Bennet cut him off.
“This matters!” Bennet remarked, raising his voice. “This is a job where it is life and death for families all over this country.”
As Kennedy argued before the panel that he was not against vaccines, Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine organization he established, was selling onesies online with the slogans Unvaxxed Unafraid and No Vax, according to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. No issue.
Sanders asked Kennedy if, given his support for vaccines, he would encourage the group to remove the items. Kennedy stated that he was no longer employed with the organization.
Senators from both parties carefully scrutinized Kennedy’s prior remarks endorsing abortion rights.
Kennedy stated to a podcast host during his presidential campaign last year that he would be in favor of allowing women to get abortions at full term if they so want.
However, a few days later, he reversed his stance, writing on X that abortion should be permitted for a predetermined number of weeks and then restricted beyond that.
Kennedy was questioned if a pregnant woman who experiences a life-threatening, incomplete miscarriage at an emergency hospital in a state where abortion is illegal is entitled to emergency care under federal law by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.
Kennedy answered, “I’m not sure.” I’m not sure, is the response.
Kennedy stated that he thought states should make the decisions about abortion laws when he was questioned by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla. He went on to list Trump’s positions on abortion, including his desire to stop late-term abortions and federal funding.
Kennedy stated, “I concur with President Trump that every abortion is tragic.” The president appoints me to this position. I will put his policies into effect.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., made another noteworthy attempt to get Kennedy to promise that he would not quit his position at HHS and take advantage of the policies he helped implement.
I would like to know if you will make a commitment right now that you will not only not work for pharmaceutical firms, but also that you will not go to work suing them and collecting your money while you are a secretary and for four years after that. “Said Warren.”
As secretary of health and human services, Kennedy would only state that he would not accept that money. “I’m not answering the question,” Warren continued.
Kennedy interrupted, “You’re asking me, Senator, not to sue vaccine pharmaceutical companies.”
No, I’m not! Warren’s voice rose in exclamation.
Kennedy also made an effort to dispel any doubts regarding his dietary beliefs. He mentioned that his “boss” enjoys eating a McDonald’s hamburger and drinking Diet Coke while discussing the increase in chronic illnesses and food additives.
Kennedy remarked, “You should be able to do that,” to some jeers at Trump’s preference for fast food. “But you should know what the impacts are on your family and your health.”
Kennedy would be in charge of the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other significant organizations as head of HHS.
If Democrats band together against him when the entire Senate votes on his candidacy, Kennedy can afford to lose only three Republicans. No Republican senator has publicly opposed him thus far.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., a member of the Finance Committee who is up for reelection in 2026, stated following Wednesday’s session that he believed Kennedy had clarified his position on vaccines.
“I m in a presumptive lean yes position, and everything he did today hasn t eroded that position,” Tillis stated.