Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended his prior public statements on a range of health policy issues in a fiery confirmation hearing Wednesday.

The hearing juxtaposed a grilling from senators behind the dais and vocal supporters in the audience and in the hallway outside.

The contrast exposed a difference between how Washington, D.C., typically assesses nominees to lead the Department of Health and Human Services — a lack of controversial public statements and intricate policy knowledge — and why many in the “Make America Healthy Again” movement value Kennedy’s nomination. Kennedy supporters like his sweeping vision for change in American food and medicines and desire to challenge the status quo.

For instance, Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada asked Kennedy about the details of a law regulating hospitals that accept Medicare payments called the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA), showing that Kennedy did not know that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services investigates violations of EMTALA.

Moments later, Kennedy emphasized his broader vision for the department: “President Trump has asked me to end the chronic disease epidemic and make America healthy again,” to applause from some in the audience.

“Democratic Senators have been trying to pin Bobby down on technicalities. RFK reminded them [of] the stakes,” said Calley Means, an advisor to Kennedy, on X. “These people are talking two different languages. It’s why we need him confirmed.”

The hearing by and large eschewed questions about Kennedy’s high-profile and controversial personal life for questions about Kennedy’s views.

The day tees up a second hearing tomorrow at the Senate Health, Energy and Labor and Pensions Committee.

While Kennedy and the MAHA movement’s popularity among Republicans has grown, his fate in the Senate is still unclear.

The Whip Count Is Still Uncertain

“It’s very clear to me some of these nominations are going to be shirts and skins,” said Republican Sen. Tom Tillis of North Carolina.

Even Democrats sympathetic to Kennedy’s critiques of the pharmaceutical industry and to his concerns about childhood obesity gave few indications they would support his nomination.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts asked Kennedy about compensation received as part of his participation in lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers and asked Kennedy to drop the lawsuits or not receive compensation as a part of these actions, which Kennedy declined to commit to.

Warren begged the question of whether there was a precedent for a nominee to make money off of lawsuits against one of the entities the nominee would be regulating. By contrast, nearly every HHS secretary has received compensation from the healthcare industry.

 

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island was reportedly Kennedy’s roommate at University of University of Virginia School of Law. Whitehouse asked no questions. Instead he said that Kennedy should make a commitment to not say that a vaccine is unsafe if there is no evidence it is unsafe, and encouraged Kennedy to make major changes to “CMS bureaucracy.”

Republican senators who have not publicly committed to voting for Kennedy were not as animated in their lines of questioning.

Tillis expressed support for one of Kennedy’s core issues – healthier school lunches. He asked about whether Kennedy supported Operation Warp Speed, the public-private partnership to develop COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy praised Operation Warp Speed as an achievement while emphasizing that he was supportive of Trump’s backing for non-vaccine therapeutics.

Sen. Todd Young of Indiana asked about fraud in the National Institutes of Health and trust in public health agencies.

“We need to end the good ol’ boy system and have replicable research,” Kennedy said.

Young extracted promises from Kennedy to prioritize research for novel research directions on long COVID and to continue to prioritize advancing innovation in AI and health care.

Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, the chair of the Senate HELP Committee which oversees most health policy issues, asked Kennedy about subjects outside of his typical bailiwick but relevant to the multibillion dollar programs he would oversee, including “dual eligibles” (people who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid), finding efficiencies in Medicaid and Medicare Advantage.

Kennedy said that he thinks most people would prefer private insurance and that the $900 billion spent on Medicaid annually is resulting in poor outcomes.

Kennedy Walked Back Some Vaccine Positions

Kennedy emphasized that he would not take dramatic action on the availability of vaccines. In a departure from prior statements, Kennedy also said he supports the measles vaccine and the polio vaccine.

“I want to empower scientists,” Kennedy said.

Ranking Member Ron Wyden of Oregon hammered Kennedy on his trip to Samoa in June 2019 amidst an outbreak of measles. Kennedy countered that the vaccination rate had already declined before his arrival, and that he encouraged better electronic health records.

“I very much like the slogan you coined, Make America Healthy Again and I very much support that effort,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Sanders and Kennedy found common ground on prescription drug prices.

However Sanders grilled Kennedy about baby onesies sold by Kennedy’s former organization, Children’s Health Defense, reading “Unvaxxed Unafraid.”

 

The Overton Window Has Shifted On Bioweapons, Fluoride, And Food Dyes.

The hearing illustrated the degree to which Kennedy’s ascendence as a controversial figure has helped change the Overton Window on issues ranging from bioweapons, fluoride and food dyes.

Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado asked about Kennedy’s statements about SARS-CoV-2 being a bioweapon tailored to affect some ethnic groups more than others, and that it was “highly likely” that Lyme disease resulted from an engineered bioweapon.

Concerns that COVID-19 resulted from a lab accident in Wuhan – the theory of the case favored by 69% of Americans – has contributed to increased scrutiny on lab accidents, biodefense and even bioweapons.

The ambitions of some officials in the People’s Liberation Army to develop genetically tailored bioweapons were recently highlighted in an editorial co-authored by Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger and former Biden COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha.

The potential connection between fluoride in tap water and declines in IQ and the harms of unregulated food dyes in processed food, once dismissed as fringe, did not feature in Democrats’ grilling.

A September 2024 decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that fluoride in drinking water poses a risk of reduced IQ in Children.

Former President Joe Biden’s Food and Drug Administration banned red dye No. 3 in the final days of the administration, citing cancer risk, following Kennedy publicizing the issue.

 

Kennedy Supports Investigating Side Effects Of Medication Abortion

Democrats highlighted past statements by Kennedy, a lifelong Democrat, that diverge from the Republican Party on the issue of abortion.

Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire displayed a poster with one of Kennedy’s prior statements on abortion: “I don’t think the government has any business telling people what they can or cannot do with their body.”

Bennet questioned Kennedy about a statement on a podcast that abortion “shouldn’t be left up to the states. It should be left up to the woman.”

At Wednesday’s hearing, Kennedy said that he agrees with Trump that “every abortion is a tragedy” and that it should be left to the states.

“I came from a family that was split on choice and life.” Kennedy continued. “The good thing in my family is that we could have those conversations and respect each other.”

Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma extracted promises from Kennedy to not compel providers to provide abortion if they morally oppose it and to incentivize reporting of the adverse events of medication abortion.

Big Pharma’s Role In DC Is Under The Spotlight

The hearing has generated discussion online about the pharmaceutical industry’s influence in Washington.

Kennedy’s critics on the committee have seen their list of drugmaker donors highlighted online.

Warren’s Massachusetts houses many drug companies, including Moderna, maker of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.

“Speaking of shills, Senator Warren raked in over $5.2 million from Big Pharma and the medical industrial complex,” said Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina on X, citing data from the nonpartisan nonprofit Open Secrets.

Featured Image Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America