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Top Republican 'struggling' with RFK Jr.'s nomination over Kennedy's vaccine views

Kennedy refused to say vaccines don't cause autism during his hearings.

Last Updated: January 30, 2025, 1:14 PM EST

President Donald Trump has promised he'd let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "go wild" on health, food and medicine as head of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Kennedy, a Democrat who ran as an independent but ended up supporting Trump in the 2024 presidential campaign, was grilled by senators over his views on vaccines, abortion, Medicaid and more during two days of confirmation hearings.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, concluded Thursday's hearing by saying he was "struggling" with the nomination due to Kennedy's vaccine positions. Kennedy notably refused to say vaccines don't cause autism as he faced pointed question from lawmakers.

Jan 29, 2025, 3:54 PM EST

Senate Republicans largely rally to RFK Jr.'s defense after hearing

Republican senators largely rallied to RFK Jr.'s defense, claiming he put concerns about his previous anti-vaccine rhetoric "to bed" during his tense confirmation hearing.

Sen. Roger Marshall R-Kan., a physician, brushed off the nominee's history of pushing vaccine misinformation when asked by ABC News.

"I think you're mischaracterizing. I think what Bobby Kennedy Jr. has always said is he wants the truth out there," he responded. "Right now, Americans don't trust what's coming out of the CDC."

Republicans defended Kennedy's history of promoting what his critics call other public health "conspiracy theories." Kennedy, for example, has falsely claimed COVID-19 was ethnically targeted to spare "Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese [people]."

"All the things he was accused of being a conspiracy theorist on, figured out to be the truth," Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., said.

On vaccines, Democrats said Kennedy was flip-flopping on a life-and-death issue.

"I mean, that's all politics, and it's all about creating obfuscation. It is not as he says about science, and he would be a lot better off if we have somebody in that job to who is for all the science," Sen. Michael Bennett D-Colo., told ABC News.

-ABC News' Jay O'Brien

Jan 29, 2025, 1:38 PM EST

Hearing ends

The committee's hearing ended after more than three and a half hours of questioning.

Many of Kennedy's supporters cheered him on after the hearing gaveled out.

Jan 29, 2025, 1:36 PM EST

RFK says he supports childhood vaccine schedule but has spent years criticizing it

RFK Jr.'s claim that he "support[s] the childhood schedule" of vaccinations contradicts the stream of criticism he has leveled in recent years at the vaccine schedule typically given to American children.

Kennedy has falsely linked the vaccine schedule to a rise in chronic disease, saying at a town hall last year, "What I'm focused on is the bigger issue of chronic disease, and that is linked to the vaccine schedule in some cases, the explosion of chronic disease."

Childhood vaccines have steadily increased in recent decades as new shots have become approved following clinical trials on their safety and efficacy, increasing the number of diseases that are now vaccine preventable. Clinicians say the number of vaccines given to a baby does not risk overwhelming their immune system.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. President Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies before a Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 29, 2025.
Nathan Howard/Reuters

According to the CDC, even if babies receive several vaccinations in one day, their immune systems are under significantly more pressure from the bacteria and viruses they encounter daily in their environment.

Kennedy has been heavily critical of the number of vaccines children receive and has said there are "ridiculous diseases" that are in the childhood vaccine schedule, singling out the Hepatitis B vaccine.

"The baby doesn't need this," he told podcaster Joe Rogan last year.

-ABC News' Will McDuffie, Sony Salzman and Youri Benadjaoud

Jan 29, 2025, 1:30 PM EST

Kennedy vows to prioritize long COVID research

Kennedy vowed that he would commit to prioritizing long COVID research if confirmed to lead the HHS.

"If confirmed, will you collaborate with health care providers, researchers and effective communities to better understand and mitigate long COVID's impact? Yes or no?" GOP Sen. Todd Young of Indiana asked.

"Absolutely," Kennedy replied.

Kennedy also committed to integrating long COVID research in broader health care policies.

Long COVID occurs when patients still have symptoms at least three months after they have cleared the infection according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.