Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine activist President Donald Trump nominated to lead the nation’s top health agency, did little to win over his critics at two Senate confirmation hearings this week.
Democrats argued he’s not qualified for the job. And by botching answers to basic questions about health policy, Kennedy supplied some evidence.
It’s uncertain whether Kennedy will get enough votes in the Senate to be confirmed as the secretary of Health and Human Services. Every Democrat and independent is expected to vote against him, meaning he can afford to lose only three GOP votes.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a physician who sits on the Finance Committee and chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, known as HELP, is seen as the crucial vote.
He made a point of highlighting the successes of vaccination and questioned whether Kennedy, as HHS secretary, would champion the lifesaving medicines he has spent years attacking.
Kennedy, 71, appeared before Finance on Wednesday, backed by dozens of supporters wearing “Make America Healthy Again” shirts and hats. Advocates also cheered him on at Thursday’s hearing of Cassidy’s HELP Committee.
Over 3½ hours at Finance, Kennedy confused Medicare and Medicaid, the two largest government health insurance programs, which together cover more than a third of Americans but operate very differently. He also mistakenly said that Medicaid is funded solely by the federal government. In fact, nearly a third of costs are paid by the states.
Kennedy, as recently as last year a supporter of abortion rights, said he agreed with Trump that “every abortion is a tragedy.”
Kennedy also said he didn’t think HHS had “a law enforcement branch.” The agency can issue fines and penalties against health providers who break the law.
He didn’t do much better Thursday at HELP, where he couldn’t correctly answer a question from Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) about how Medicare works.
Kennedy got kid-glove treatment from most Republicans on both Senate panels, with several seeking (and receiving) assurances that he would prioritize rural health care or leave alone federal policies that affect farmworkers.
But Cassidy was an exception. At the Finance hearing, he unsuccessfully pressed Kennedy to say how he would improve care for people enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid, often called dual eligibles, for whom the government has struggled to coordinate care and control costs.
Opening the HELP hearing, Cassidy made clear to Kennedy that he supports vaccines and that he expects the U.S. health secretary to support them as well, yet he couldn’t persuade the nominee to disavow debunked conspiracies that childhood vaccines cause autism.
The Finance Committee plans a vote next week; HELP does not vote on HHS nominees.
At the close of Thursday’s hearing, Cassidy said he would take the weekend to consider his vote. “Will you continue what you have been, or will you overturn a new leaf at age 70?” Cassidy said.
