Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, faced another day of tough questioning today in the second of his two confirmation hearings for his nomination to be Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), declining to distance himself from previous statements he has made linking childhood vaccines to autism.
Today's hearing was before members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP).
As with the previous day's hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee, Kennedy's history of anti-vaccine statements dominated the line of questioning for many of the HELP Committee members. It began with the opening comments from committee chair Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who was a physician in Louisiana for more than 25 years prior to becoming a senator. Cassidy said that Kennedy's past undermining of vaccines with "unfounded or misleading arguments" concerned him.
"As a physician who's been involved with immunization programs, I've seen the benefits of vaccinations, I know they save lives, I know they're a crucial part of keeping our nation healthy," Cassidy said. "What will you tell American mothers? Will you tell them to vaccinate their child, or not?"
Kennedy did not respond directly to those questions.
Kennedy challenged on belief autism is linked to MMR vaccine
Although Kennedy also received questions on Medicare and Medicaid, nutrition, mifepristone, drug supply shortages, and how he would fix what he has called America's chronic disease epidemic, committee members once again drilled down on his views on vaccines, focusing on his past statements linking the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, and other childhood vaccines, to the sharp rise in autism diagnoses.
"There are multiple studies establishing the safety of the measles and hepatitis B vaccine, and specifically that they are not a cause of autism," Cassidy said. "If you are approved for this position, will you assure mothers, unequivocally and without qualification, that the measles and hepatitis B vaccines do not cause autism?"
Kennedy would not directly answer yes to that question, but said, "if the data is there, I will absolutely do that." He also said repeatedly that he would publicly apologize for his past statements if the data showed he was wrong. But Cassidy and other committee members were not mollified by that response.
"The data has been there for a long time," Cassidy responded. That sentiment was echoed by Ranking Chair Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH).
"There have been, as I understand it, dozens of studies done all over the world showing that make it very clear that vaccines do not cause autism," Sanders said. "The evidence is there."
"When you continue to sow doubt about settled science, it makes it impossible for us to move forward," said Hassan.
What will you tell American mothers? Will you tell them to vaccinate their child, or not?
Although Kennedy told Cassidy that he would not cut funding for vaccine programs or delay review or approval of new vaccines should he be confirmed, many of the Democratic members of the committee were skeptical and expressed concern that Kennedy could undermine Americans' trust in vaccines, a concern that's been articulated by many physicians and public health officials. Among the concerns is that Kennedy, if confirmed as HHS Secretary, could change the makeup of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Advisory Council on Immunization Practices to include more anti-vaccine voices.
Kennedy was pressed on comments he's made about the lack of post-approval safety monitoring for vaccines, despite the existence of several vaccine safety systems monitored by the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration—two agencies that are under the purview of the HHS Secretary. In response to questions about those systems from Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Kennedy said they were broken and that the CDC won't let independent scientists see the vaccine safety data. He also suggested CDC vaccine scientists have conflicts of interest.

"What I want to do is make sure we have gold-standard science," Kennedy said, coming back to a theme that he repeated over his 2 days of hearings.
"If you want to take a second look at the science, as you have said, it's here, it's available, and it's conclusive, and saying anything else is undermining vaccines," Baldwin responded.
In addition to Cassidy, Republican committee members Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) joined Democrats on the committee in pressing Kennedy on his vaccine beliefs. But other Republicans on the committee appeared to support the nomination and defended Kennedy for raising questions about vaccines.
"I don't understand why we can't question the science," said Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK).
"This is why people distrust government, because you're unwilling to have these conversations" said Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).
Prospects for confirmation
Throughout the hearing, Kennedy sought to portray himself as someone who, through his questioning of the science and willingness to challenge the status quo, could not only reverse the rise is chronic diseases but also help restore Americans' trust in vaccines and public health agencies. He said the reason that vaccination rates are dropping in the United States is because people don't trust the government.
"If we want uptake of vaccines, we need a trustworthy government," Kennedy said. "That's what I want to restore to the American people and the vaccine program. I want people to know that if the government says something, it's true."
But in his closing statements, Cassidy indicated he still had significant concerns about confirming Kennedy. Noting how influential Kennedy is, Cassidy said he still needs to be convinced that Kennedy will become an advocate for vaccination, and not someone who continues to challenge the data to sow doubt.
"You've got a megaphone, and with that influence comes great responsibility," Cassidy said. "My responsibility is to learn, and try to determine, if you can be trusted to support the best public health."
Cassidy is also a member of the Senate Finance Committee, which is expected to vote next week on whether to advance the nomination to the Senate for a final confirmation vote. If Kennedy is confirmed, he would head an agency with 13 operating divisions and a $1.8 trillion budget.