Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee offered Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a chance to defend himself against Democrats’ attacks about his history as an anti-vaccine activist in his confirmation hearing Wednesday — and most suggested they would support him to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
“I think you have come through well and deserve to be confirmed,” Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said as he adjourned the hearing.
Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn predicted he would. “I look forward to seeing you help make us healthy again,” she said, referencing Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” slogan.
Kennedy said he wanted the job because of his concern about rising rates of chronic disease and a lack of attention to the cause.
“It’s the human tragedy that moves us to care,” he said. “President Trump has promised to restore America’s global strength and to restore the American dream, but he understands we can’t be a strong nation when our people are so sick.”
Democrats suggested Kennedy wasn’t familiar enough with the policies and debates in health care to lead the government’s health agencies, and they took aim at his past work as an anti-vaccine activist, saying it disqualified him to lead HHS.
“He has made it his life’s work to sow doubt and discourage parents from getting their kids life-saving vaccines,” ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said, echoing fellow Democrats who called his nomination “disturbing.”
Kennedy denied being anti-vaccine, despite his history of saying the shots are dangerous.
Democrats also highlighted his past support for abortion rights and accused him of hypocrisy for allying with President Donald Trump, who appointed three of the justices who overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago. They raised questions about conflicts of interest posed by his legal work against vaccine makers.
But the GOP questioning suggested Kennedy would gain the Finance panel’s approval — Republicans have a one-seat edge — and get a vote on the Senate floor.
Kennedy’s confirmation still isn’t a fait accompli. In a full Senate vote, Kennedy can lose three Republican votes and still win confirmation with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie if every senator in the Democratic caucus opposes him. Some Republican votes are still thought to be in play. For example, former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a polio survivor, issued a pointed defense of vaccination last month and voted against Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, last week.
If Kennedy were to pursue even a fraction of the policy agenda he espoused as an activist — before Trump named him to lead HHS in November after winning the election, which was preceded by Kennedy dropping his own presidential bid and endorsing Trump — it would upend HHS and the public health system.
If confirmed, Kennedy would helm one of the largest agencies in the federal government that’s responsible for, in part, the health coverage of more than 1 in 3 Americans, creating rules and enforcing laws that govern nearly all health care providers, the preparation for and response to infectious diseases, and the approval of vaccines, drugs and medical devices.
Committee Republicans focused on areas where they see common ground with Kennedy.
Kennedy answered questions from Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) about sustaining rural health care by explaining that Trump had tasked him with ensuring access to care nationwide — and suggesting artificial intelligence and remote care could be a key solution to improving rural care.
To Blackburn’s question about overmedication of children, Kennedy suggested Americans need more non-pharmaceutical therapies for illness.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who told POLITICO earlier this month he’d sought reassurance about Kennedy’s views on vaccines, used his time to ask what Kennedy would do to improve care for people who are covered by both Medicare and Medicaid. Cassidy, who chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, will get another chance to question Kennedy about the programs in a hearing Thursday morning.
Kennedy said he wanted to make sure “we take good care of people” without getting into policy details.
Kennedy demonstrated some command of the policy issues facing HHS, saying he believed reform of the pharmaceutical market was needed — a hot topic on Capitol Hill — and suggested he wanted to train doctors to boost treatment of substance use disorder. He said Medicaid, the federal-state insurer for low-income people, needed an overhaul because it had not prevented a rise in chronic disease.
But Kennedy’s command of the intricacies of policy was also often shaky. He seemed at one point to confuse Medicaid with the federal insurer for older Americans, Medicare.
“I’m coming away convinced that this nominee isn’t even completely clear on the difference between Medicare and Medicaid, two programs of enormous importance,” Wyden told reporters after the hearing.
Kennedy, during another exchange, struggled to answer a question about HHS’ role in ensuring hospitals follow a longtime law requiring emergency rooms to treat patients regardless of their ability to pay.
“You will be enforcing EMTALA laws and it’s important that you understand their impact,” Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) told Kennedy, referencing the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.
Calley Means, a former food industry lobbyist-turned-adviser to Kennedy, suggested on social media that some senators focused their questioning on arcane policy issues.
“While he is being questioned about minutiae, he continually raises the conversation to the existential stakes of our chronic disease crisis,” Means posted on Instagram as Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) grilled Kennedy about Medicaid.
Kennedy claimed that most people dislike the Affordable Care Act, despite polling updated on Jan. 17 by the health policy research group KFF that found that 64 percent of American adults favorably viewed the 2010 health care law.
Kennedy also said many people would prefer to be on Medicare Advantage but can’t afford it. A September 2024 report from the Better Medicare Alliance, a group of insurers and business groups that support the privately run alternative to traditional Medicare, found that 52 percent of program enrollees make less than $24,500 a year.
Asked whether Kennedy was up to the task of overseeing Medicare and Medicaid, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said: “I think he can learn.”
Kennedy opponents said the hearing proved their point.
“Our expectations for RFK Jr. were already on the floor, but he showed all of America today why his nomination poses a grave threat to Americans’ health and well-being,” said Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Democratically aligned Protect Our Care, an advocacy group that has spent more than $1 million campaigning against Kennedy’s confirmation.
Kennedy asserted that he isn’t “anti-vaccine” but “pro-safety,” promising to focus on studying the safety of immunizations and the abortion drug mifepristone. He erroneously suggested doctors and patients can’t report any serious side effects experienced when taking the latter.
He also doubled down on his previous suggestions that antidepressant use is linked to school shootings, drawing sharp criticism from Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota, who disclosed her past use of the medications.
Most Democrats seized on Kennedy’s long history of disparaging vaccine science and casting doubt about the safety of routine childhood shots, warning that his ascension to HHS secretary would be detrimental to core public health protections that took a hit during the Covid-19 pandemic.
If confirmed, “Robert Kennedy will have the power to undercut vaccines and vaccine manufacturing across our country, 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 these kids, the bottom line is the same,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). “Kennedy can kill off access to vaccines and make millions of dollars while he does it. Kids might die, but Robert Kennedy can keep cashing in.”
The hearing comes amid growing fear within Kennedy’s orbit over a spate of negative coverage that some privately worry is hurting his chances of confirmation.
In recent days, both The Wall Street Journal and New York Post editorial boards came out against him, with the Post calling him a “radical left lunatic.” A conservative group tied to former Vice President Mike Pence has ramped up its own anti-Kennedy campaign, amplifying a clip of Trump last year calling him a “Democrat plant.” And Caroline Kennedy urged senators to reject her cousin in a scathing letter that labeled him a “predator.”
“I can definitely affirm that there’s more anxiety,” said one person close to Kennedy, who was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.
A second person close to Kennedy expressed confidence that he would ultimately win enough votes, but acknowledged it’s not a universal view among Kennedy’s advisers. They believe Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine will oppose Kennedy, as well as potentially McConnell.
None of them are on the Finance Committee, which will now vote on whether to recommend Kennedy’s confirmation to the full Senate.
Kennedy opponents believe several lawmakers are conflicted about supporting the nominee.
“It’s very partisan, and I think that’s because there’s pressure,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, a Democrat and physician, told POLITICO. “In my conversations with both sides, it’s evident that if this was an anonymous vote, it would be something like 70 to 30 against.”
Kennedy’s confirmation would be a significant show of force by Trump, indicating the sway he has with GOP senators if they back a scion of a famed Democratic family and longtime progressive activist.
“I think watching Bobby on TV today, Donald Trump had to say, ‘good work,'” Michael Caputo, a longtime Trump adviser, said in an interview. “Now it’s up to the GOP to provide — it’s up to the Republicans to deliver. And if they don’t, there’s a lot of people who will make them pay.”
At Wednesday’s hearing, there was no obvious sign of GOP opposition.
“I think I’ve come to know what’s in your heart,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) told Kennedy. “I think I know the personal and political price you’ve paid for this decision [to serve Trump]. I just want to say publicly, I thank you for that.”
