Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said over and over again that he is not against vaccines, despite his long record of spreading vaccine misinformation.
Addressing senators wary of confirming him to be secretary of health and human services, Kennedy has claimed he simply wants to promote safety and transparency ― that, if the evidence shows vaccines are safe, he will support them.
But the answer is a dodge, because it implies there’s an active scientific debate over vaccine safety. Thereisnot. On Thursday, a group of senators questioning Kennedy made that clear.
It happened during Kennedy’s second day of Senate confirmation hearings, this time before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP). And it started right away with questions from the chairman, Louisiana Republican Bill Cassidy, who is also a physician.
“Will you say unequivocally … and without qualification,” Cassidy said, “that the measles and hepatitis B vaccines do not cause autism?”
Kennedy started into his standard answer ― “Senator, I am not going into the agency with any kind of …” ― when Cassidy stopped him mid-sentence.
“That’s kind of a yes-or-no question,” Cassidy said. “The data is there.”
This went on for about a minute, with Kennedy again saying he’d support the vaccines if the data showed they were safe, and Cassidy again saying there’s no “if.”
The data, Cassidy noted, “have been out there for quite some time and have been peer reviewed, and it shows that these two vaccines are not associated with autism.”
Cassidy’s statement was accurate.
Vaccines in the U.S. are subject to rigorous safety review before and after approval. Fears they lead to autism trace back to a discredited study the journal ended up withdrawing; multiple studies since then have shown no link.
Sanders Makes It Simple; Hassan Makes It Personal
Cassidy moved on when Kennedy reaffirmed that he would admit vaccines were safe ― and even apologize for suggesting otherwise ― if he saw the evidence.
But then it was time for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to ask his questions. And Sanders made his question simple: “Vaccines do not cause autism, do you agree with that?”
Kennedy started with the same answer he’d given before, “I’m not going to go into HHS with any preordained ….”
Sanders was having none of it. “I asked you a simple question, Bobby,” Sanders interjected.
“Studies all over the world say it does not. What do you think?”
“Senator,” Kennedy said, “if you show me those … I will absolutely ….”
One more time, Sanders stopped him.
“That is a very troubling response. The studies are there,” Sanders said.
Other senators also pressed Kennedy on vaccines, including Maggie Hassan, the New Hampshire Democrat who talked about her experience as the mother of a child with cerebral palsy.
Choking up, Hassan said that “not a day goes by” when she doesn’t worry whether something she did as a parent led to his condition. Parents of children with autism, Hassan went on to say, have tortured themselves with the same question.
“The problem with this witness’ response on the autism cause and the relationship to vaccines is that he’s relitigating and churning settled science, so we can’t go forward and find out what the cause of autism is, and treat these kids and help these families,” Hassan said.
Cassidy Is The One To Watch
The HELP Committee won’t actually vote on whether to send Kennedy’s nomination to the Senate floor. That’s the job of the Finance Committee, where Kennedy testified Wednesday.
But the questioning from HELP’s members can offer hints about how the panel’s members would vote on Kennedy in a floor vote.
Hassan, Sanders and other Democratic caucus members are nearly certain to vote against him, and most Republicans are going to vote for him — if not because they agree with Kennedy’s views then because they want to support President Donald Trump’s nominee.
Cassidy’s vote remains an open question.
In his opening statement, which included a story about a past patient with a vaccine-preventable disease, Cassidy cited his expertise as a physician and his commitment to good science. And he’s broken with Trump before, most famously when he voted to convict the (then) former president in 2021 impeachment proceedings.
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But that vote has drawn the ire of Trump supporters, one of whom is now challenging Cassidy in the Republican primary for the 2026 Senate race.
It would likely take four Republican no votes on the floor to stop a Kennedy nomination, given the partisan balance in the chamber, and Cassidy is just one member (although he also has a vote on the Finance Committee).
But Cassidy’s position as a physician could give him extra sway over his fellow Republicans. Or, at the very least, it could give Republicans extra political cover if they decide they want to break with Trump on this nomination.