The sometimes contentious confirmation hearing lasted three and a half hours but it appears Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee generally support President Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and will likely vote to bring his nomination to the full Senate.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who will appear before the Senate Committee on Health, Education Labor and Pensions for a second hearing on Thursday, attempted to convince the committee during his opening statement that he was not anti-vaccine. He said that if he was confirmed, he’d be focused on transparency, safety, and addressing the chronic disease epidemic.
“News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. Well, I am neither; I am pro-safety,” said Kennedy, an environmental lawyer who suspended his independent presidential campaign to support Trump.
“ I worked for years to raise awareness about the mercury and toxic chemicals in fish, but that didn’t make me anti-fish. All of my kids are vaccinated, and I believe vaccines have a critical role in health care.“
But Ron Wyden (D–Ore.), who serves as the ranking member of the committee, said in his opening remarks that after examining thousands of pages of Kennedy’s record, it’s clear that Kennedy has embraced conspiracy theories, especially when it comes to the safety and efficacy of vaccines. “He's made it his life's work to sow doubt and discourage parents from getting their kids life-saving vaccines,” Wyden said. “It’s been lucrative for him and put him on the verge of real power. This is the profile of somebody who chases money and influence wherever they lead, even if that means the deaths of children and other vulnerable people.”
The hearing was peppered with tense exchanges between Democratic Senators and Kennedy about Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare Advantage, and vaccines.
Kennedy seemed to confuse Medicare and Medicaid during certain portions of the hearing. “I believe Medicaid is a critical program, but it’s not working well as it ought to be,” he said, adding that most people are not happy with the plan because premiums and deductibles are too high. But Medicaid is a program jointly funded by states and the federal government for low-income people and doesn’t have premiums or deductibles.
When asked by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) about how he would reform Medicaid, Kennedy said he doesn’t have broad proposals for dismantling the program and instead believes there should be pilot programs in each state that experiment with value-based care.
Kennedy, who said he is a member of a Medicare Advantage plan and appeared to generally support the program, was also asked about how he would improve care for dual eligibles, people who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. He said that dual eligibles are not well served under the system but said he’s not sure how he would integrate the programs and he’d be open to exploring options.
Prior to concluding the hearing, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) indicated support for his nomination, telling Kennedy he had done well throughout the hearing and deserves to be confirmed.