Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stressed during his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing that he is not inherently against vaccines in a bid to reassure members of the committee that he is worthy of being confirmed as the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
“News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. I am neither. I am pro-safety,” said Kennedy during his opening statement before the committee. “I worked for years to raise awareness about the mercury, toxic chemicals in fish, and nobody called me anti-fish.”
If confirmed, Kennedy would direct 18 of some of the most powerful federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Kennedy, the former Democrat and environmental law advocate and activist, was considered by former President Barack Obama to lead the Environmental Protection Agency because of his record of protecting natural resources from pollution, beginning with mercury pollution in the Hudson River Valley.
During his opening statement, Kennedy highlighted that his career as an environmental lawyer opened the door to his future career in public health advocacy.
“I learned very early on, that human health and environmental injuries are intertwined, the same chemicals that kill fish make people sick also,” said Kennedy.
The 71-year-old firebrand launched a long-shot campaign to challenge President Joe Biden in April 2023 but switched to an independent run soon after. Late into the campaign cycle, Kennedy dropped his campaign to endorse Trump and boost his public health platform, which was dubbed “Make America Healthy Again.”
Kennedy has been an outspoken critic of the pharmaceutical and large agricultural sectors, alleging that they are corrupted by the intermingling of bureaucratic and corporate interests.
On the campaign trail, Kennedy lambasted the revolutionary weight loss drug Ozempic, made by Danish corporation Novo Nordisk, arguing that public health attention should be paid to improving food systems that cause obesity.
“Should I be so privileged as to be confirmed, we will make sure our tax dollars support healthy foods,” said Kennedy. “We will scrutinize the chemical additives in our food supply. We will remove financial conflicts of interest from our agencies. We will create an honest, unbiased, gold-standard science at HHS, accountable to the President, to Congress, and to the American people. They will reverse the chronic disease epidemic and put the nation back on the road to good health.”
When Kennedy told the committee that he was not anti-vaccine, a female protestor in the back of the room yelled “he lies,” interrupting Kennedy’s statement and generating cheers from the audience.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the leading Democrat on the committee, said in his opening statement that Kennedy has “embraced conspiracy theories, quacks, charlatans, especially when it comes to the safety and efficacy of vaccines.”
Kennedy has said that on vaccines he does not want to issue recommendations but rather provide patients and doctors on the ground with as much safety and efficacy information on vaccines as possible.
“It’s a slippery tactic to dodge any real responsibility for his words and actions, and it is, in my view, absurd coming from somebody who’s trying to win confirmation for a job that is entirely about making recommendations,” said Wyden.
Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) said that Kennedy, if confirmed, would have the “opportunity to live to deliver bold, transformative solutions” that both sides of the aisle recognize is broken.
“Mr. Kennedy, if confirmed, you will have the opportunity to chart a new and better course for the federal approach to tackling both the drivers and the consequences of our ailing healthcare system,” said Crapo during his opening statement. “Your commitment to combating chronic conditions that drive healthcare costs will be critical to our success.”
Congressional Reporter Ramsey Touchberry contributed to this report.