Senate Democrats grilled Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his various controversial statements including his stance on vaccines during his confirmation hearing to be President Donald Trump’s health and human services secretary, and most left feeling overwhelmingly unsatisfied by the answers they received.
The Democratic lawmakers confronted Kennedy with previous statements he had made to press him on his role in a deadly measles outbreak in Samoa in 2019, his views on Covid-19, and his previous claims falsely linking vaccines to autism in children. Throughout the hearing, the Democrats repeatedly asked Kennedy to make commitments that he would not purge employees for political reasons or use his perch to personally benefit financially, without getting clear answers.
Republicans meanwhile, seemed largely receptive to Kennedy even though his past stances – particularly on abortion – do not align with their conservative ideology.
Given the narrow majorities in the Senate, Republicans can only afford to lose three GOP senators, and some have yet to say how they will vote. There are some areas in Kennedy’s record that overlap with Democrats, but no Democratic senator has declared they will back him.
Wednesday’s tense hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee was Kennedy’s first test, and he will face off against the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Thursday.
For his part, Kennedy tried to downplay his anti-vaccine rhetoric and other controversial stances regarding public health and rebuked statements that he is a vaccine skeptic despite an extensive, recorded history of his linking vaccines to autism in children.
“In my advocacy I have often disturbed the status quo by asking uncomfortable questions. Well, I won’t apologize for that,” Kennedy said. “We have massive health problems in this country that we must face honestly.”
Kennedy’s response to past conspiracy theories
Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado was one of the lawmakers to bring the receipts of Kennedy’s past statements to the hearing.
When asked to respond to his previous statements that Covid-19 was a “genetically engineered bio-weapon that targets Black and white people but spared Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people,” Kennedy responded: “I didn’t say it was deliberately targeted, I just quoted an NIH published study.”
Pressed whether he said that Lyme disease is a “highly likely, militarily engineered bio-weapon” Kennedy said, “I probably did say that.”
Then Bennet turned to his Republican colleagues after Kennedy’s answer: “I want them to hear it.”
Kennedy denied that he said that exposure to pesticide causes children to become transgender, but Bennet pushed back, “I have the record that I’ll give to the chairman.”
Kennedy said he was not sure if he wrote in his book that it is “undeniable that African AIDS is an entirely different disease from Western AIDS.”
“There’s a long record here, and there’s a lot in that record that he’s trying to cover up with the opening statement that you heard and with his claim that he’s quote unquote pro-vax now,” Bennet said.
Kennedy tries to clear up position on abortion
Kennedy sought to reassure leery conservatives about his stance on abortion, saying he agrees with the president that “states should control abortion.”
“I agree with President Trump that every abortion is a tragedy. I agree with him that we cannot be a moral nation if we have 1.2 million abortions a year. I agree with him that the states should control abortion,” Kennedy said at his confirmation hearing Wednesday, in response to Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma asking if he supports Trump’s previous stance on Title X.
In the same line of questioning, Kennedy also suggested he would back protections for “conscientious objections” for providers who refuse to provide reproductive health care services they find morally objectionable.
“I don’t know anybody who would want to have a doctor performing a surgery that the doctor is morally opposed to,” he said.
“Forcing somebody to participate in a medical procedure as a provider that they believe is murder does not make any sense to me,” he added.
But Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire attacked Kennedy’s shifting stance on abortion rights.
“It is remarkable that you have such a long record of fighting for women’s reproductive freedom, and really great that my Republican colleagues are so open to voting for a pro-choice HHS Secretary,” Hassan said after citing several quotes of him previously voicing stances supportive of abortion rights.
Kennedy reiterated that he agrees with Trump that “every abortion is a tragedy.”
“When was it that you decided to sell out the values you’ve had your whole life in order to be given power by President Trump?” Hassan asked.
Kennedy sidestepping on key commitments
Kennedy refused to give clear answers about whether he would disavow his own financial interests if confirmed or purge HHS employees for political purposes.
Kennedy gave mixed answers when Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts asked him if he would pledge to not take any compensation from lawsuits against drug companies while he is secretary or for four years afterward, as his personal financial stake in some lawsuits has come under scrutiny.
When Warren asked Kennedy to commit to not taking any compensation from any lawsuits during and following his would-be term, Kennedy said, “I will certainly commit to that while I’m secretary. But I do want to clarify something, because you’re making me sound like a shill.”
Kennedy’s financial disclosures, filed as part of his potential role in the incoming administration and during his brief run for the presidency last year, show he has earned more than $2.4 million from litigation brought by Wisner Baum, a law firm whose specialties include pursuing pharmaceutical drug injury cases.
But as Warren’s line of questioning continued, Kennedy’s answers failed to address the senator’s concerns.
“I’m not going to agree to not sue drug companies or anybody,” Kennedy said.
Warren pressed further: “I am asking you to commit right now that you will not take a financial stake in every one of those lawsuits so that what you do as secretary will also benefit you financially down the line.”
To which Kennedy replied, “I’ll comply with all the ethical guidance.”
Warren was not satisfied with his answer.
“No one should be fooled,” Warren responded. “And for all of his talk about ‘follow the science’ and his promise that he won’t interfere with those of us who want to vaccinate our kids. The bottom line is the same. Kennedy can kill off access to vaccines and make millions of dollars while he does it. Kids might die, but Robert Kennedy could keep cashing in.”
The panel’s GOP chairman, Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, said that Kennedy has gone through the Office of Government Ethics process as has every other Cabinet nominee.
Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia also pressed Kennedy over what federal employees he plans to fire at the Department of Health and Human Services as concerns have arisen over the purge of federal workers conducted by the Trump administration.
Kennedy has said he wants to fire and replace 600 workers from the National Institutes of Health, and Warner revealed that in their private meeting, Kennedy said he wants to get rid of 2,200 federal employees from HHS.
When asked to pledge to not get rid of employees working on food safety or cyber attacks in health care, Kennedy did not give a yes-or-no answer but said, “I will commit to not firing anybody who’s doing their job.”
Warner then pressed to clarify if those decisions would be based on his opinion, political agenda, or President Donald Trump’s wishes.
“Based on my opinion,” Kennedy responded.
Kennedy also would not commit to not freezing grant funding for community health centers, as the fallout from the Trump administration’s federal aid freeze remains unclear, and instead said, “The White House has made clear that no funds are going to be denied to any American for benefits in any program.”
Where Democrats and Kennedy found common ground
Notably, Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, who went to the University of Virginia School of Law with Kennedy, used his dedicated time in the spotlight to give a speech rather than ask Kennedy questions.
Despite the overall tense hearing, which included interruptions from protesters, Democrats signaled they found some common ground when Kennedy outlined his views on the chronic disease epidemic and how he wants to implement a nutrition-oriented disease prevention plan.
Even Bennet, who interrogated Kennedy, also conceded “Mr. Kennedy is right” when it comes to the declining health in the United States and poor food quality offered to children.
No Democrats have said that they will support Kennedy, but some have suggested they are open to it.
Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders has said that Kennedy is “exactly correct” about the food industry.
“I don’t believe any Democrats on the committee will support him, and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that we have the opportunity to get to ask additional questions and get to the bottom of some the many areas he ducked and found ways to get around,” he continued.