Kennedy Defends Vaccine Policies Amid Bipartisan Criticism

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s Health secretary and a longtime vaccine skeptic, struck a defiant tone Thursday as he faced bipartisan criticism over changes he has made to reorganize federal health agencies and vaccine policies, telling senators that he is determined to “eliminate politics from science.”

In the testy appearance before the Senate Finance Committee, Kennedy repeatedly defended his record in heated exchanges with senators from both parties and questioned data that show the effectiveness of vaccines. In turn, senators accused him of taking actions that contradict his promise seven months earlier that he woudl do “nothing that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking vaccines.”

“Secretary Kennedy, in your confirmation hearing you promised to uphold the highest standard for vaccines. Since then, I’ve grown deeply concerned,” Sen. John Barrasso of wyoming, a top-ranking Senate Republican and a physician, said during the hearing.

Kennedy forcefully denied that he has limited access to vaccines and defended his record in restoring trust in federal healthcare agencies under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“They deserve the truth and that’s what we’re going to give them for the first time in the history of the agency,” Kennedy told senators.

From the outset, it was expected that democrats would slam Kennedy’s record. Some of them called on him to resign and accused him of politicizing federal health policy decisions. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the committee’s ranking Democrat, said he believed kennedy’s “primary interest is to take vaccines away from Americans.”

“During his confirmation process, he claimed to be pro-safety and pro-science, but his actions reveal a steadfast commitment to elevating junk science and fringe conspiracies,” Wyden said.

criticism during the three-hour hearing also came from Republicans, in a rare rebuke of a Trump management official from a Republican-led committee.

Three Republicans, including Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who was key in advancing Kennedy’s nomination, joined Democrats in criticizing kennedy’s actions. Sen. thom Tillis of North Carolina at one point told Kennedy that remarks he gave to the panel during the confirmation process “seem to contradict” what he is doing now as Health secretary.

The decorum usually associated with congressional hearings at times fell by the wayside. kennedy and senators repeatedly shouted over one another, accused each other of lying and engaged in name-calling. In one instance, Kennedy told Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) that she was engaging in “crazy talk” when asked about vaccine access. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) called Kennedy a “charlatan.”

Thursday’s session marked a peak of bipartisan opposition to Kennedy’s leadership at the Department of Health and Human Services.