The Senate Finance Committee voted along party lines Tuesday to advance Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination for health secretary to the full Senate, putting the longtime anti-vaccine activist a step closer to becoming the country’s top public health official.
Kennedy’s nomination cleared the committee with a key “yes” vote from Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician who had said publicly that he was “struggling” with Kennedy’s anti-vaccine stance. All 14 GOP members of the committee voted in favor of Kennedy while all 13 Democratic members voted against him.
Although Kennedy denied and deflected when asked during his two hearings about his long record of anti-vaccine statements, he refused to say he believed in the established science that vaccines do not cause autism.
“Does a 70-year-old man, 71-year-old man who spent decades criticizing vaccines, and who’s financially invested in finding fault with vaccines — can he change his attitudes and approach now that he’ll have the most important position influencing vaccine policy in the United States?” Cassidy said on Wednesday. “I’ve got to figure that out for my vote.”
On Monday, the Louisiana Republican said he and Kennedy had a “cordial” meeting over the weekend, but added that he was still considering how to vote. Cassidy, who is facing re-election next year, ultimately relented on Tuesday, writing in a post on X ahead of the vote that he’d had “very intense conversations” with Kennedy and the White House over the past few days.
“With the serious commitments I’ve received from the administration and the opportunity to make progress on the issues we agree on like healthy foods and a pro-American agenda, I will vote yes,” Cassidy wrote.
Senate Democrats are expected to uniformly oppose Kennedy for health secretary. If he hopes to be confirmed, he can only afford to lose three Republican votes.
