After a contentious three-and-a-half-hour Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Robert F. Kennedy faces another round of questioning on Thursday as he seeks to become the nation’s top health official.
The 71-year-old will appear before the health committee, where he is expected to face intense scrutiny from a panel more focused on healthcare policy. Republican Chair Bill Cassidy, a physician who challenged Kennedy over his confusion between Medicare and Medicaid during Wednesday’s hearing, is likely to press him further on his understanding of the U.S. healthcare system.
As RFK Jr prepares for another big day for him, here are some key takeaways from his first confirmation hearing.
Kennedy Defends Vaccine Stance Amid Scrutiny
During the hearing, senators repeatedly questioned Robert F. Kennedy about his past statements on vaccines.
For eight years, he led Children’s Health Defense, a group that has cast doubt on the safety and effectiveness of childhood vaccinations and continues to promote the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism.
Kennedy insisted he is not anti-vaccine but supports stricter safety studies and testing. He claimed to back the current childhood vaccination schedule and rejected being labeled a conspiracy theorist. “That’s a pejorative that’s applied to me to keep me from asking difficult questions about powerful interests,” he told senators.
However, lawmakers pointed to his past remarks, including a 2023 podcast where he said, “I think some of the live virus vaccines are probably averting more problems than they’re causing. There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective.”
Kennedy Criticizes Processed Foods, Vows Reform
A central theme in Kennedy’s opening remarks and throughout the hearing was his criticism of processed foods, which he argued contribute to the country’s obesity epidemic.
He vowed to investigate chemical additives in food and pledged to eliminate financial conflicts of interest between U.S. agencies and the food industry.
“We will reverse the chronic disease epidemic and put the nation back on the road to health,” he told the committee.
Kennedy Faces Scrutiny On Abortion Stance
Kennedy, who has previously expressed support for abortion rights, faced questions from both Republican and Democratic senators about his stance on the issue.
Republican Senator James Lankford pressed him on whether he would reinstate conscience protections for doctors who refuse to perform abortions due to religious or moral beliefs. Kennedy responded that forcing providers who consider abortion to be murder to perform the procedure “doesn’t make any sense.”
Democratic Senator Michael Bennet then asked Kennedy about his past statements supporting abortion rights and opposing government interference in a woman’s right to choose. Kennedy began his response by stating, “I believe every abortion is a tragedy.”
Kennedy Navigates Healthcare Debate
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a longtime advocate for universal healthcare, asked Kennedy whether he believes the U.S. should “guarantee healthcare to all people as a human right.”
Kennedy declined to give a simple answer, instead posing a hypothetical about a 20-year smoker with lung cancer, questioning whether that person should have the same healthcare access as a non-smoker. He suggested the smoker would be “taking from the pool,” referring to overall healthcare costs.
Sanders then shifted the discussion to drug pricing, criticizing the pharmaceutical industry for charging Americans more than Europeans for the same medications. When asked if he would work to “end that absurdity,” Kennedy agreed, stating, “We should end that disparity.”
