On Wednesday, the Senate Finance Committee held the first of two confirmation hearings for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the secretary of Health and Human Services. (He faces a different Senate committee on Thursday.) The political scion who has vowed to “Make America Healthy Again” is known for flouting conventional medical wisdom, promoting vaccine skepticism, and platforming COVID-19 misinformation. Those tendencies came under the spotlight during his hearing, with Democratic senators expressing outrage over Kennedy’s past statements and harshly questioning him over his priorities. Republicans were mostly friendly, though one key vote, Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy, did not tip his hand either way. Below, how the hearing played out in real time:
The Senate Finance Committee wrapped up its confirmation hearing for Kennedy shortly after 1:30 p.m. But this is just the beginning of the process for the nominee. On Thursday, Kennedy will sit for his second hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee at 10 a.m.
Democratic senator Tina Smith of Minnesota asked Kennedy about his past comments in an interview that drew a link between school shooters and antidepressant use.
“Do you believe, as you said, that antidepressants cause school shootings? This should be a simple question,” Smith said.
Kennedy responded, “I don’t think anybody can answer that question, and I didn’t answer that question. I said it should be studied along with other potential culprits like social media.”
Republican senator Roger Marshall of Kansas asked Kennedy to lay out his “prescription” to make America healthy again. Kennedy began by saying that America is having “epidemics” of chronic illness, noting the high rates of obesity as well as autoimmune and neurological diseases.
Kennedy indicated that one of his top priorities will be to research the issues with the nation’s food supply and the source of these medical concerns. “We don’t have good science on all of these things, and that is deliberate. That’s a deliberate choice not to study the things that are truly making us sick, that are not only contributing to chronic disease, but the mortalities from infectious disease. We need to get a handle on this, because if we don’t, it’s an existential threat,” he said.
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont asked Kennedy if he believed that America should guarantee health care for everyone “as a human right.” Kennedy did not give a yes-or-no answer.
“In the way that free speech is a human right, I would say it’s different because free speech doesn’t cost anybody anything,” he said. “In health care, if you smoke cigarettes for 20 years and you get cancer, you are now taking from the pool.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts asked Kennedy if he would commit to not accepting compensation from lawsuits against drug companies while serving as secretary and for four years after his tenure is over.
Kennedy said that he would “certainly” commit to that when he’s secretary, but stopped short of saying he would comply after he leaves office. He also insisted that Warren was asking him to abstain from suing these companies.
“You’re asking me to not sue drug companies, and I’m not going to do that,” Kennedy said.
RFK Jr. told senators at his confirmation hearing that he would oversee a safety review of mifepristone, a widely used drug in abortions, which has been used around the world for decades.
During her questions, New Hampshire senator Maggie Hassan cited 40 studies confirming mifepristone’s safety. She also pointed to RFK Jr.’s long history of pro-choice views and accused him of selling out his beliefs for Trump’s benefit.
Republican senator Steve Daines of Montana raised the topic of mifepristone, one of the medications used in medical abortions. Kennedy did not take an explicit stance on whether he will support limits on the drug’s usage but indicated that he will follow Trump’s lead on the issue.
“President Trump has asked me to study the safety of mifepristone. He has not yet taken a stand on how to regulate it. Whatever he does, I will implement those policies,” he said.
Kennedy has faced scrutiny for his past comments on abortion, with the former Democrat previously voicing support for abortion rights. On Wednesday, Kennedy told Republican senator James Lankford of Oklahoma his current position aligns with Trump’s.
“I agree with President Trump that every abortion is a tragedy. I agree with him that we cannot be a moral nation if we have 1.2 million abortions a year,” he said. “I agree with him that the states should control abortion.”
Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy took a different tack from his agitated Democratic colleagues, asking RFK Jr. detailed questions about Medicare and Medicaid funding mechanisms. It did not go very well for the nominee. Cassidy, who is a physician himself, is viewed as a key senator whose vote will be crucial to Kennedy being confirmed.
The Democratic senator from Colorado raised his voice as he asked RFK Jr. a set of fiery yes-or-no questions, interrogating the nominee over past conspiratorial statements on COVID and other diseases.
Kennedy said that he has no plans of interfering in Americans’ ability to be vaccinated for measles. “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 either of those vaccines,” he said.
Senator Ron Wyden rejected his response. “Anybody that believes that ought to look at the measles book you wrote saying parents have been misled into believing measles is a deadly disease,” he said. “That’s not true.”
During an exchange with Senator Mike Crapo, the Republican chairman of the committee, Kennedy said that he’s not in favor of banning particular unhealthy foods. In his comments, he noted President Donald Trump’s well-known love of fast food.
“I don’t want to take food away from anybody. If you like a McDonald’s cheeseburger and a Diet Coke, which my boss loves, you should be able to get them,” he said, prompting laughs from the audience.
As Kennedy began to defend his position on vaccines, a protester in the crowd began to shout. The Hill reports that the person, who was immediately escorted out, was yelling, “You lie! First do no harm!”
In his first remarks, Kennedy defended his position on vaccines, saying that he is not anti-vaccine. “News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. I am neither. I am pro-safety,” he said.
Kennedy noted that his own children are vaccinated and that he believes that vaccines play a role in health care. “I worked for years to raise awareness about the mercury and toxic chemicals in fish, and nobody called me anti-fish,” he said.
Kennedy acknowledged the presence of his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, as well as two of his children. In his opening statement, Kennedy said his focus on public health began with his work as an environmental lawyer where he saw a connection between environmental harms and human health.
He said that the overall health of Americans is in “grievous condition” and that it’s President Trump’s goal to fix health outcomes across the country.
“President Trump has promised to restore America’s global strength and to restore the American Dream, but he understands how we can’t be a strong nation when our people are so sick. A healthy person has 1,000 dreams. A sick person has only one,” he said.
Megyn Kelly, the conservative commentator, was spotted in the hearing room sitting next to Kennedy’s wife, Cheryl Hines. Kelly was previously seen at the confirmation hearing for secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
In his opening statement, Senator Ron Wyden, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, made his opposition to Kennedy clear, accusing him of flouting science at the expense of vulnerable people.
“The receipts show that Mr. Kennedy has embraced conspiracy theories, quacks, especially when it comes to the safety and efficacy of vaccines. He has made it his life’s work to sow doubt and discourage parents from getting their kids life-saving vaccines,” he said. “It has been lucrative for him and put him on the verge of immense power. This is the profile of someone who chases money and influence wherever they lead, even if that may mean the tragic deaths of children and other vulnerable people.”
Nicole Shanahan, who was Kennedy’s running mate during his brief presidential campaign, issued a clear ultimatum to the senators who will vote on his nomination: Confirm Kennedy or risk a well-funded primary.
In a video, Shanahan name-checked senators on both sides of the aisle, including Chuck Schumer, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Jon Ossoff, John Fetterman, and Thom Tillis, warning them that she would be watching their final votes closely.
“This is a bipartisan message and it comes directly from me. While Bobby may be willing to play nice, I won’t. If you vote against him, I will personally fund challengers to primary you in your next election and I will enlist hundreds of thousands to join me,” she said.
The day before her cousin’s confirmation hearing, Caroline Kennedy wrote a letter to lawmakers urging them to oppose Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to Trump’s Cabinet. Though the former U.S. ambassador to Australia cited his lack of experience for the role, Kennedy made it clear that she believes her cousin isn’t morally fit as well, calling him a “predator.”
“Bobby preys on the desperation of parents of sick children — vaccinating his own children while building a following by hypocritically discouraging other parents from vaccinating theirs,” she said. “Even before he fills this job, his constant denigration of our health-care system and the conspiratorial half-truths he has told about vaccines, including in connection with Samoa’s deadly 2019 measles outbreak, have cost lives.”
This is a developing story.
