Kennedy faces tough questioning on vaccine views at HHS confirmation hearing

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, faced a fierce round of questioning from US lawmakers today in the first of two confirmation hearings for his nomination to be Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Many of the question posed by members of the Senate Finance Committee focused on Kennedy's long history of anti-vaccine statements and positions and his connections to anti-vaccine groups, such as Children's Health Defense.

In the weeks leading up to the hearings, Kennedy has sought to distance himself from those statements and has said he will not take vaccines away from anyone. But many public health experts have suggested that there's much he could do as HHS secretary to limit vaccine programs, restrict funding for vaccine research, and undermine Americans' confidence in vaccines, particularly those given to children. 

"The receipts show that Mr. Kennedy has embraced conspiracy theories, quacks, and charlatans, especially when it comes to the safety of vaccines," Ranking Member Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), said in his opening comments. "He has made it his life's work to sow doubt and discourage parents from getting their kids life-saving vaccines."

Kennedy focuses on chronic health

In his opening statements, Kennedy attempted to put some of those concerns to rest, countering previous reporting and saying that he was not anti-vaccine but "pro-safety" and wants US health agencies to be transparent and support "gold-standard science."

"I believe vaccines have a critical role in healthcare; all of my kids are vaccinated," Kennedy said. But he didn't completely back away from his history. 

"In my advocacy I have often disturbed the status quo by asking uncomfortable questions, and I'm not going to apologize for that," he added.

Kennedy has said that he wants to focus on fixing what he calls America's chronic disease epidemic, which was a major platform of his presidential campaign before he dropped out of the race and endorsed then-candidate Donald Trump. He has suggested that healthier diet and exercise can play an important role in preventing some chronic diseases and has been highly critical of the food and agriculture industries, pharmaceutical companies, and the healthcare industry. 

In his opening statement, Kennedy highlighted those themes, pointing out that the United States spends more on healthcare than any other nation and yet has worse outcomes. He pledged to reverse the chronic disease epidemic and "put the nation back on the road to good health."

"Americans' overall health is in grievous condition," Kennedy said, noting that over 70% of American adults, including 30% of children, are overweight or obese and that rates of diabetes, cancer, and auto-immune diseases have risen significantly in recent decades. "President Trump has promised to restore America's global strength and to restore the American dream, but he understands we can't be a strong nation when our people are so sick."

As the nominee to run a department that oversees 13 operating divisions and has a $1.8 trillion budget, Kennedy was asked about his views on a wide range of topics, including healthcare reform, drug prices, abortion, substance abuse and addiction services, mental health, and agriculture.

Republican members of the committee, who mostly focused their questions on nutrition, chronic disease, and Medicare and Medicaid reform, appeared supportive of Kennedy.

"I think that you are the person to lead HHS and make America healthy again…and I look forward to your confirmation," said Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS).

Spotlighting anti-vaccine views

But Democratic members of the committee repeatedly returned to Kennedy's two decades of anti-vaccine statements, which date back to a 2005 article published in Rolling Stone in which he promoted the idea that childhood vaccines—specifically the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine—may be behind the rise in autism diagnoses. The theory was based on a 1998 Lancet study that was subsequently retracted. Scores of studies, including a Danish population study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2019, have found no evidence that the MMR vaccine increases the risk of autism.

Kennedy has also made disparaging remarks about COVID-19 vaccines, telling Louisiana lawmakers in 2021 that the vaccine was the "deadliest ever made," and filed a petition with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) calling on the agency to rescind authorization for the shots, according to the New York Times. In December, it was reported that a lawyer affiliated with Kennedy had petitioned the FDA to revoke approval of the polio vaccine currently used in the United States.

Donald Trump and RFK Jr.
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Citing anti-vaccine comments that Kennedy has made on a number of podcasts over the years, Sen. Wyden asked "are you lying to Congress today, or did you lie on all those podcasts?"

"Senator, I support the measles vaccine, I support the polio vaccine, I will do nothing as HHS Secretary that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking vaccines," Kennedy said. He would later add that all he wants is "good science."

Kennedy was also asked about his role in a measles outbreak in Samoa that resulted in 83 deaths, primarily in children under 5, and has been blamed on low measles vaccination rates. Reporting by NBC News and other outlets indicates Kennedy met with anti-vaccine groups in Samoa during the crisis. But in response to questions from Sen. Wyden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kennedy said he arrived in Samoa well after vaccination rates had dropped.

"Your representation of what happened in Samoa is wrong," Kennedy said. "You will not find any Samoan who will say 'I did not get a vaccine because of Bobby Kennedy.' "

Criticism of health agencies

Another line of questioning focused on Kennedy's past criticism of many of the government agencies that he would oversee if confirmed as HHS Secretary, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the FDA, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

In a November 2023 speech to an anti-vaccine group, Kennedy said that, if elected President, he would tell NIH to take a break from studying infectious diseases for 8 years. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) also cited recent comments has made about firing 600 NIH employees if confirmed.

"Are you aware of how harmful these issues could be for public health?" she asked.

"I said give infectious disease a break because that's been the principal preoccupation," Kennedy said. "Chronic disease accounts for 92% of deaths in this country…but the money is going to infectious disease."

In response to questions from Sen. Raphael Warnock about the CDC, Kennedy said he agreed that CDC's work is vital and denied comments comparing the work of the CDC's child vaccination program to Nazi death camps and sexual abusers in the Catholic Church. 

"I support the CDC," Kennedy said. "My job is not to dismantle or harm the CDC; my job is to empower the scientists, if I am privileged to be confirmed."

But Kennedy also said Americans are skeptical of US health agencies after the COVID-19 pandemic, and said he would address the issue through "radical transparency."

"The reason people don't trust the public health agencies is because they haven't been trustworthy," he said.

Kennedy's nomination hearing comes amid new polling that indicates Americans' faith in government health agencies has continued to erode since the beginning of the pandemic. The latest poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the percentage of people who said they had a "great deal" or "fair amount" of trust that the CDC makes the right recommendations fell from 66% in June 2023 to 61%, while trust in the FDA fell from 65% to 53%. 

But only 43% of respondents in that poll said they would trust Kennedy to make the right recommendations. The survey also found that 83% of Americans support school vaccination requirements.

Inconsistent statements

Although some health experts have said that they agree with some of Kennedy's views on chronic disease, diet, and healthcare costs and outcomes, his two decades of anti-vaccine advocacy has drawn widespread opposition to his nomination from the medical community. A letter from the Committee to Protect Health Care urging senators to oppose the nomination has been signed by more than 15,000 physicians. 

"RFK Jr. has a well-documented history of spreading dangerous disinformation on vaccines and public health interventions, leaving vulnerable communities unprotected and placing millions of lives at risk," the letter states. "His appointment is a direct threat to the safety of our patients and the public at large."

Robert F Kennedy Jr.
Gage Skidmore / Flickr cc

But during the hearing, Kennedy repeatedly disputed the anti-vaccine statements attributed to him, suggesting that he didn't make those statements, or that they have been mischaracterized or taken out of context. He also denied being a conspiracy theorist.

"That is mainly a pejorative that's been applied to me, mainly to keep me from asking difficult questions of powerful interests," he said. 

Democratic members of the committee argued that Kennedy's denials of documented statements and shifting positions on vaccines and abortion—another issue on which his current views differ from previous positions—were examples of why he shouldn't be confirmed. That sentiment was echoed by CIDRAP Director Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, in the most recent episode of the Osterholm Update podcast. Osterholm noted that Kennedy's denials are par for the course and expressed doubt that anything he said at the confirmation hearings can be trusted.

"I don't believe anything he says," Osterholm said. "If you look at his track record, he has been inconsistent on every issue that relates to public health."

Kennedy will have another hearing tomorrow before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Members of both committees will then vote on whether to advance his nomination.

Editor's note: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified an anti-vaccine group affiliated with Kennedy. The correct name of the group is Children's Health Defense.

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