On Wednesday, January 29, 2025, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared in front of the US Senate to undergo extensive questioning before his appointment as head of the Department of Health and Human Services. President Trump nominated Kennedy.
Before questioning began, Kennedy addressed several concerns weighing on senators before his appointment. “News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry,” Kennedy began before he was interrupted by a protester in the gallery. “I am neither; I am pro-safety. I worked for years to raise awareness about the mercury and toxic chemicals in fish, but that didn’t make me anti-fish. All my kids are vaccinated, and I believe vaccines have a critical role in health care,” he continued as the protester was escorted out.
Democrats quickly questioned Kennedy over his past claims in which he explicitly declared himself “anti-vax.” Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon pressed Kennedy on the millions he’d made with anti-vaccine groups and his previous statements regarding vaccine efficiency.
Kennedy evaded the question when asked if he believed measles were deadly but insisted once again that he was not anti-vaccine. Wyden then brought up a 2023 podcast recording in which Kennedy proclaimed, “There’s no vaccine that’s safe and effective.”
“Mr. Kennedy, all of these things cannot be true,” Wyden continued. “So, are you lying to Congress today when you say you are pro-vaccine?”
“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 anything,” Kennedy countered. He also clarified that statements he had previously made on podcasts were proven to be exponentially false.
Kennedy’s past controversial statements continued to haunt him throughout the Senate hearing. Colorado Senator Michael Bennet asked Kennedy whether he had ever claimed Lyme Disease was a military-engineered bioweapon. He agreed he had made such claims.
Kennedy refused to answer questions raised by Senator Elizabeth Warren over his intentions to profit from his position in HHS. Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto asked Kennedy if pregnant women had a right to emergency care during an incomplete miscarriage, to which he responded, “The answer is I don’t know.”
“This matters!” Bennet said, emotion quelling in his voice. “This is a job where it is life and death … for families all over this country.”
Members of Kennedy’s family voiced concern over his appointment, with Caroline Kennedy sending the Senate a letter pleading with them to deny his appointment. “Bobby is addicted to attention and power,” she wrote. “Bobby preys on the desperation of parents of sick children – vaccinating his kids while building a following by hypocritically discouraging other parents from vaccinating theirs.”
When asked by conservatives what his stand on abortion was, Kennedy merely responded, “I serve at the pleasure of the president. I’m going to implement his policies.”