The first group of U.S. Senators responsible for providing their advice and consent on the president’s Health and Human Services nominee have heard his testimony, and it appears the apparently reformed vaccine skeptic will face only token opposition on his path to the cabinet.
Environmental law attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a former independent presidential candidate and the black-sheep scion of the once-powerful Kennedy family political dynasty, appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance on Wednesday to answer questions ahead of potential consideration by the full senate.
Questions wavered between congenial and contentious, with Republicans lining up behind President Donald Trump’s pick to manage HHS’ $1.8 trillion annual budget and Democrats hammering the nominee over an alleged lack of qualifications, past statements on vaccine efficacy, and the role of the federal workforce in keeping the nation healthy.
Kennedy said his goal, should he clear the nomination process, is to execute the president’s directive to “make America healthy again” and end a “chronic disease epidemic” by focusing on nutrition and healthier lifestyles. Kennedy stated flatly that he is not anti-vaccine.
“News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry, I am neither,” he said. “I am pro-safety. I worked for years to raise awareness about the mercury and toxic chemicals in fish and nobody called me anti-fish. I believe that vaccines played a critical role in health care.”
Democratic committee members said Kennedy has a long history of questioning the safety of vaccines, in public appearances and publications, of which Ranking Member Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon led in reminding him.
“Mr. Kennedy, you have spent years pushing conflicting stories about vaccines. You say one thing and then you say another,” Wyden said.
Kennedy pushed back, copping to a history of asking “uncomfortable questions” about potential negative side effects of vaccination, but stressed again he is not against people choosing to vaccinate.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren asked Kennedy if he would commit to not taking a job in any of the industries he’s set to regulate for at least four years after he leaves the Trump Administration. Kennedy said he was “happy to agree to that,” and joked he didn’t think there would be any company with interest in paying for his services.
Warren then pivoted, saying that Kennedy had “raked in” $2.5 million in legal fees for work with a law firm that sues vaccine manufacturers, and asked him to agree to the same four-year moratorium with regard to suing those companies. Kennedy said he wouldn’t make money off those suits while serving as HHS Secretary, but wouldn’t promise not to pursue legal action as part of his role in the Trump Administration.
“You are asking me to not sue drug companies and I’m not going to agree to that, senator. I am not going to agree to not sue drug companies or anybody,” he said.
Idaho Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, the committee chair, followed Warren’s line of questioning with a reminder, saying he wanted to “make it clear that Mr. Kennedy has gone through the same Office of Government Ethics process as every other nominee in the Finance Committee, this year and in previous administrations.”
North Carolina’s U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis said he’d just left another committee meeting, and it was becoming increasingly clear that “some of these nominations will be shirts and skins.”
“No matter what you answer, they will ask you one more question so you cannot answer in the affirmative. It is the way the game is played when we have nominees like yourself. You are handling yourself well,” Tillis said.
Kennedy will appear before the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on Thursday.
