A key congressional committee voted Tuesday to advance to a full Senate vote the nomination of prominent vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the next U.S. health secretary.
The 14-13 vote by the Senate Finance Committee was along party lines, with all 14 Republicans on the panel voting in favor of Kennedy. Among them was Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a physician who said in a hearing last week that he was “struggling” with his vote because of Kennedy’s claims about vaccines.
Cassidy said on social media platform X he voted yes after “very intense conversations” with Kennedy and the White House over the weekend.
“With the serious commitments I’ve received from the administration and the opportunity to make progress on the issues we agree on like healthy foods and a pro-American agenda, I will vote yes,” he said.
Confirmation of Kennedy — who President Donald Trump promised could “go wild” in healthcare — as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services would spell a dramatic shift in the country’s health policy. Kennedy, who has repeatedly espoused disproven theories that vaccines cause autism, would be responsible for overseeing agencies that set the nation’s health agenda, including the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
While senators on both sides pressed Kennedy about his past statements during two confirmation hearings last week, Republicans mainly sought assurances he’d follow Trump’s policies on abortion.
Kennedy has pledged to focus on addressing the rise of chronic diseases in the U.S. and limiting ultra-processed foods, both now key planks of the “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.
His position on other major healthcare policies is less apparent, however.
As secretary, Kennedy would oversee programs, like Medicaid, that Republican lawmakers have signaled interest in cutting. When asked during last week’s hearings how he would reform Medicaid, Kennedy gave unclear answers. He claimed Americans were unhappy with the safety net program, even though the majority of Americans view Medicaid favorably. He also fumbled basic questions about how Medicaid and Medicare operate.
Kennedy also said he would support Trump’s policies to restrict abortions, a reversal of sorts from his prior pro-choice position. But he offered few details about how he would seek to limit the procedure. He also was uncertain whether women are entitled to abortions in emergency medical scenarios in states that ban the procedure — a key issue after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.
Kennedy has said he would not take away anyone’s vaccines, and during last week’s hearings tried to reframe his vaccine criticism as “pro safety” rather than anti-vaccine.
As HHS secretary, though, he could influence the FDA’s approval standards and CDC vaccination guidelines. Kennedy could also push the FDA to replace members of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, which provides advice to the agency on vaccine safety and efficacy. While product approvals are ultimately up to the FDA, the committee can influence the agency’s decision.
If confirmed, Kennedy would have access to the FDA’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, its Sentinel active surveillance system as well as safety data from vaccine manufacturers. Kennedy could potentially use this data to raise concerns about adverse events related to a vaccine, even if a causal link hadn’t been established.
Kennedy did not go into great detail about the upcoming drug price negotiations between the CMS and pharmaceutical companies. While Kennedy’s committee hearing was taking place, the CMS committed to conducting the negotiations, but said, without any details, that it will try to improve the process. The Inflation Reduction Act, which established Medicare’s authority to negotiate prices of certain top-selling medicines, calls for talks this year on 15 drugs, which the Biden administration selected in early January.
Ned Pagliarulo and Emily Olsen contributed reporting.
