Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, sat through his second Senate confirmation hearing in as many days on Thursday, with his chances of being confirmed appearing less certain by the end.
Democrats on the the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee once again hammered Kennedy for promoting misinformation about vaccines, and his refusal to back down from those positions seemed to bother even some Republicans on the panel.
Kennedy was also asked about his stance on GLP-1 drugs and emergency abortion access, while again conveying a shaky grasp on the agencies he would oversee.
Here are 5 key takeaways:
Cassidy homes in on vaccines and autism
Health Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a physician, made it clear he had “reservations” about Kennedy’s beliefs on vaccines causing autism and his long-documented skepticism on their efficacy.
The Louisiana senator was looking for some reassurance from Kennedy on this issue, but the HHS nominee offered little to quell Cassidy’s concerns.
In both his opening and closing remarks, Cassidy recalled a former patient, an 18-year-old woman, who was suffering from hepatitis B-induced liver failure that could have been prevented by a vaccine.
“Since then, I try to do everything I can to make sure I never have to speak to another parent about their child dying due to a vaccine preventable disease,” Cassidy said.
“As a physician who’s been involved in immunization programs, I’ve seen the benefits of vaccinations. I know they save lives,” he added. “I know they’re a crucial part of keeping our nation healthy.”
Kennedy said he would change his beliefs if presented with data proving him wrong, saying he would go as far as to “apologize for any statements that misled people.” Towards the end of the hearing, Cassidy presented Kennedy with a 2014 meta-analysis which concluded vaccines are not associated with autism.
Kennedy pushed back, saying he could point to studies that suggested there was a link.
“I just want to follow the science,” said Kennedy. “There’s many times I’ve been wrong about science.”
Cassidy said it would be “incredible” if Kennedy came out in unequivocal support for vaccines and clarified there is no link to autism.
“I’ve been struggling with your nomination,” Cassidy told Kennedy at the end of the hearing.
“There’s a 70-year-old man, 71-year-old man, who spent decades criticizing vaccines and was financially vested in finding fault with vaccines,” said Cassidy. “Can he change his attitudes and approach now that he’ll have the most important position influencing vaccine policy in the United States?”
RFK Jr. tangled with Sanders
The most heated part of the hearing occurred when HELP Committee Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pressed Kennedy on lowering prescription drug costs, an issue he championed as chair of the committee.
“If we want to make America healthy, will you assure the American people that you will fight to do what every other major country on Earth does, guarantee health care to every single American?” Sanders asked Kennedy.
Kennedy said corruption leading to high drug costs existed in Congress as well as the pharmaceutical industry, accusing Sanders of being the single largest campaign beneficiary of pharmaceutical dollars.
Sanders furiously shot back at this accusation saying, “I got millions and millions of contributions. They did not come from the executives, not one nickel of PAC money for the pharmaceutical industry. They came from workers.”
According to Open Secrets, Sanders received $115,690 from the pharmaceutical industry between 2019 and 2024. All of these dollars are recorded as coming from individuals.
Kennedy claimed Sanders received $1.5 million from the pharmaceutical industry, to which the Vermont senator quipped, “Yeah, out of $200 million.”
Hassan got choked up talking about son
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) confronted Kennedy’s support for linking vaccines to autism through her own personal experience.
Visibly emotional, she blasted Kennedy’s rhetoric as being harmful to making progress on better understanding autism.
“Some of you are new to this committee and new to the Senate, so you may not know that I am the proud mother of a 36-year-old young man with severe cerebral palsy,” said Hassan. “And a day does not go by when I think about what did I do when I was pregnant with him that might have caused the hydrocephalus that has so impacted his life?”
“So, please do not suggest that anybody in this body of either political party doesn’t want to know what the cause of autism is,” Hassan continued.
“The problem with this witness’s response on the autism cause and the relationship to vaccines is because he’s relitigating and churning settled science. So, we can’t go forward and find out what the cause of autism is and treat these kids and help these families.”
Kennedy says emergency care includes abortions
Despite speaking in favor of abortion access in the past, Kennedy has since aligned his views with Trump, repeatedly saying he believes “every abortion is a tragedy.”
When asked about policies regarding abortion, Kennedy said numerous times on Thursday that he would follow what Trump’s policies end up being.
Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), however, sought answers on how Kennedy personally believed some abortion measures should be handled.
Blunt Rochester asked whether Kennedy would support the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), a federal law that requires that hospitals offer an abortion if deemed necessary to stabilize a patient with a condition that threatens their life or health.
“Do you agree that a person who is experiencing severe pregnancy complications should be able to receive emergency care to save their life, if that care is an abortion?” Blunt Rochester asked Kennedy.
Kennedy initially attempted to point to Trump’s policy on the issue, but Blunt Rochester pressed the HHS nominee on whether he himself believes pregnant women should have access to abortions if necessary to save their lives.
“If it’s required to save their life,” said Kennedy.
Apparent lack of knowledge about Medicare
One prevailing observation from Democrats was that Kennedy had an apparent lack of knowledge of how federal health policies work.
When asked by Cassidy on Wednesday how he’d oversee Medicare and Medicaid, Kennedy seemed to confuse the two. Kennedy described Medicaid as “fully paid for by the federal government,” when in reality it is financed by a mix of state and federal funding.
“Yesterday during your finance hearing, and today, you confused details about Medicare and Medicaid. You didn’t know what authorities you have under [EMTALA],” Blunt Rochester noted.
Hassan quizzed Kennedy on what Medicare Part A, B and C cover.
Kennedy said Medicare Part A covers primary care when it in fact covers inpatient care during hospital stays.
He described Medicare Part B as covering “physicians and doctors.” Part B covers medically necessary services and supplies as well as preventive services.
Kennedy described Medicare Part C as “a program where it gets the full menu of all the services; A, B, C and D for Medicare.” Medicare Part C is perhaps better known as Medicare Advantage, a program in which approved private insurance plans are offered as an alternative to original Medicare.
“Mr. Kennedy, you want us to confirm you to be in charge of Medicare, but it appears that you don’t know the basics of this program,” Hassan said.
