Senators Acted As Stand-Ins For American Moms As They Questioned RFK Jr. About Vaccines

During congressional confirmation hearings over his nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) this week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. repeatedly distanced himself from his long record of anti-vaccine sentiment and skepticism. Both Democratic and Republican senators on Thursday sought answers on behalf of the parent most likely to make health decisions for their families: mothers.

The framing signifies how central mothers and caregivers are in the response to President Donald Trump’s pick to oversee large swaths of the nation’s health care system, especially when it comes to vaccines. Kennedy, whose vision to “Make America Healthy Again” has rallied supporters, could play a role in the future of childhood vaccination rates, which have been declining since around the start of the pandemic. Senators attempted to stand in as a proxy for the American parent, leading to tense exchanges over whether Kennedy will accept settled vaccine safety.

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a physician, said his office received many calls of support for the nominee, including at least some constituents who said they partly credit Kennedy in the decision to not vaccinate their children. 

“What will you tell the American mother?” Cassidy said in opening remarks at the health committee hearing Thursday. “Will you tell her to vaccinate her child or to not? … so your past of undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns me. Can I trust that that is now in the past? Can data and information change your opinion, or will you only look for data supporting a predetermined conclusion? This is imperative.”

On both days of hearings, Kennedy tried to distance himself from his past comments on vaccines.

“News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. I am neither,” he told senators in opening remarks shared with the finance and health committees, which share oversight of HHS. “I am pro-safety.”

If confirmed, Kennedy cannot unilaterally revoke vaccine mandates in America, in part because state legislatures have historically approved such policies, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

“Mandates don’t come from afar,” he said. “Our elected representatives decided to put them in place.”

Still, Kennedy will have authority to enact a series of changes at HHS that would ultimately impact the access, affordability and effectiveness of vaccines in America, according to Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. That could mean raising questions about the safety data of certain vaccines, which could sway what vaccines are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions. He could also make it easier for some vaccine manufacturers to face more financial liability if someone is injured by a product. Offit also said Kennedy could oversee some federal money that is distributed to states that help pay for vaccines. 

“He could devastate vaccines in this country, and believe me, he will,” Offit said.

Moms have a big impact on whether their children are vaccinated, as evidenced by the line of questioning from the senators.

Cassidy, a key vote in the confirmation, at one point asked if Kennedy would declare that the measles and hepatitis B vaccines are not associated with autism. Kennedy has falsely claimed that vaccines cause autism. 

“If you are approved to this position, will you say unequivocally, will you reassure mothers unequivocally and without qualification that the measles and hepatitis B vaccines do not cause autism?” Cassidy asked.

“If the data is there, I will absolutely do that,” Kennedy said.

There is publicly available data that dispels that vaccines cause autism.

Sen. Maggie Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat whose adult son has severe cerebral palsy, said debunked research that claimed vaccines cause autism “rocked” her world as a mother — and was all the more reason for Kennedy to be clear about what he will do as HHS secretary.

“Over time, the scientific community studied and studied and studied and found that it was wrong, and the journal retracted the study, because sometimes science is wrong. We make progress, we build on the work, and we become more successful,” she said, near tears. “And when you continue to sow doubt about settled science, it makes it impossible for us to move forward. So that’s what the problem is here.”

Vaccines undergo stringent oversight under several agencies that report to HHS. Vaccine recommendations are made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which are made in close collaboration with professional medical organizations. 

Offit said even if Kennedy cannot remove vaccine mandates, he oversees some federal money that is distributed to states that help pay for vaccines. Offit said Kennedy could advocate for certain vaccines to lose their licensing through the Food and Drug Administration, or sway what vaccines are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Kennedy told lawmakers on Thursday that he intends to follow the federal recommendations for when children should receive vaccinations.

“I recommend that children follow the CDC schedule and I will follow the CDC schedule when I get in there,” he said.

Cassidy sought even more of a commitment.

“Do you promise that FDA will not deprioritize or delay review and or approval of new vaccines, and that vaccine review standards will not change from historical norms?” he asked.

When Kennedy said his oversight would mean “the best vaccine standards with safety studies,” Cassidy cut him off.

“That’s a little bit of a different answer than the question I asked, because what is the best could be in the eyes of the beholder,” the lawmaker said.

At another point, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington asked Kennedy if he would retract statements that he has made calling the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine “dangerous and defective.” Murray highlighted that Kennedy has stated the HPV vaccine increased cervical cancer rates (it does not, and has in fact reduced them). Kennedy noted that he is involved in litigation against Merck, the makers of HPV vaccine Gardasil.

“Those questions will be answered by a jury in that trial,” he said. He told Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia that he had no financial stake in the litigation, despite recent documentation that says the contrary.

Kennedy also tried to reassure senators that he supports the measles vaccine and the polio vaccine, given previous actions: An attorney for Kennedy sought to revoke approval of the polio vaccine, according to The New York Times. Kennedy’s nonprofit has also been accused of leading a misinformation campaign about the measles vaccine in American Samoa, which contributed to an outbreak that led to more than 80 deaths, mostly children.

“I support the measles vaccine. I support the polio vaccine. I will do nothing as HHS secretary that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking either of those vaccines,” he said.

What moms believe about vaccines can have tremendous impacts on their families and, ultimately society, said Schaffner. But even as modern medicine has offered a world with fewer diseases, it allows for the kind of vaccine skepticism that Kennedy peddles to take hold of mothers, too.

“When a vaccine is successful, the disease disappears, and the cultural information which is transmitted in the family — usually through the maternal line, it’s the grandmothers and the mothers who have this kind of information. The dads, somewhat, but not nearly so much,” he said. “Today, a child is born, the mother’s never seen measles. The grandmother has never seen measles, and even the great grandmother, if they’re still with us, may not have seen measles. And so if the disease is not known, it won’t be respected or feared, and therefore the vaccine is not valued, or questions are raised about the vaccine.”

This article originally appeared on The 19th. It was written by Barbara Rodriguez.