Sen. Bill Cassidy said he voted to advance Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday after the Trump administration agreed to work closely with him on vaccines and other health matters.
Mr. Cassidy, Louisiana Republican, was a swing vote in the Senate Finance Committee to push the president’s choice to the full chamber. The senator struggled with the decision, given Mr. Kennedy’s history of vaccine skepticism, but he came around when the nominee and President Trump’s team agreed to a high level of collaboration.
“We will meet or speak multiple times a month,” Mr. Cassidy said on the Senate floor. “This collaboration will allow us to work well together and therefore to be more effective.”
He said he will have input into hiring decisions at HHS, a sprawling agency with a $1.7 trillion budget and oversight of food and drugs, disease-fighting efforts and major insurance programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
Pediatricians have been the most vocal opponents of Mr. Kennedy because they must regularly combat vaccine skepticism with “correct information,” according to the senator.
Mr. Cassidy said the science around vaccines is sound, with no link to autism, though he understands that some mothers want reassurance about shots.
The senator said Mr. Kennedy pledged not to erase parts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website that say vaccines don’t cause autism.
For days, Mr. Cassidy said he felt conflicted about Mr. Kennedy because the nominee seemed eager to question what the senator calls settled science about vaccines.
Yet Mr. Cassidy, who faces reelection next year in deep-red Louisiana, said Mr. Kennedy has a huge following and platform that he could use to broadcast positive messages about health.
Mr. Cassidy said he received hundreds of personal messages and thousands through the office about Mr. Kennedy.
“I want Mr. Kennedy to succeed in making America healthy again,” Mr. Cassidy said Tuesday.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.