This week, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., testified before Senators in a series of two confirmation hearings. First, the Senate Finance Committee held a nomination hearing on January 29, followed by the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee’s nomination hearing on January 30. Both hearings were intended to allow Senators on the key health committees to explore Mr. Kennedy’s positions on the many of programs the Secretary of HHS is tasked with running.

Senators from across the political spectrum questioned Mr. Kennedy on chronic disease, vaccines, Medicare and Medicaid, nutrition, and the governmental public health system. Mr. Kennedy focused on his “Make America Healthy Again” campaign, stating that “we have the highest chronic disease burden of any country in the world.” He also repeated a promise to follow President Trump’s lead on policy implementation on a wide range of topics.

Chronic Disease

Throughout the Senate Finance and HELP hearings, members on both sides of the aisle expressed agreement with parts of the “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. Many agreed that the U.S. needed to consider upstream interventions, improve food quality, and better address chronic disease.

During his opening statements, Mr. Kennedy cited rising obesity rates and healthcare spending on chronic disease as key issues he planned to address if confirmed. “If we don’t solve that problem, Senator, all the other disputes we have about who’s paying, and whether it’s insurance companies, whether it’s providers, whether it’s HMOs, or patients or families; all of those are moving deck chairs around on the Titanic. Our ship is sinking.”

He was also pressed on his position on multiple medications in front of the HELP Committee. He supported access to Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder and called GLP-1s “miracle drugs,” but advised that they should not be taken without lifestyle changes. He also mentioned that Medicaid and Medicare should focus more on outcomes-based medicine, and “on putting people in charge of their own healthcare...so they understand the relationship between eating and getting sick.”

Health Mis- & Dis-Information

Over both days of hearings, Senators raised questions about previous claims made by Mr. Kennedy that they said were promoting misinformation and disinformation, including asking about reports that he said Lyme disease was “highly likely a militarily engineered bioweapon” and a section in one of his books that differentiated “African AIDS” from “Western AIDS.” In each case he tried to provide clarification.

Other HHS Programs

Mr. Kennedy expressed support for the CDC, affirming that the CDC’s work is critical for our country and for the health of the entire world. He also stated that his job as Secretary of HHS would not be to “dismantle or harm the agency,” but to “make sure that our science is gold standard science.” Some members of Congress expressed support for this vision, while others questioned his insinuation that the agency does not currently live up to that standard and his potential methods to achieve it.

Lines of questions from both Republicans and Democrats sought to better assess Mr. Kennedy’s understanding of various health programs, specifically probing on key elements related to Medicare and Medicaid, and the distinct roles they play in the nation’s health care system. During the hearings on Wednesday and Thursday, members of both political parties expressed concern with Mr. Kennedy’s lack of experience with programs and rules that would be under his jurisdiction if confirmed as Secretary, including Medicare and Medicaid, EMTALA, the Indian Health Service, and community health centers.

Vaccines

Mr. Kennedy’s stance and record on vaccines was a dominant topic across the Senate Finance and HELP Committees. When questioned, Mr. Kennedy denied many of his previous claims negating the safety and efficacy of vaccines and affirmed his support for the measles vaccine, polio vaccine, and childhood vaccination schedule.

However, under questioning by HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA), a gastroenterologist, Mr. Kennedy did not renounce his past statements. He also declined to agree that vaccines do not cause autism, a claim widely discredited by scientific studies that were added to the hearing record demonstrating there are no links between vaccines and autism.

Other vaccine-related questions touched on Mr. Kennedy’s past claims that Black people should be on a different vaccination schedule, the multiple vaccine safety systems in place to identify any safety issues, and Mr. Kennedy’s financial connections to current HPV vaccine-related litigation, which he could influence from the Secretary’s position. Despite widespread affirmation of the safety and efficacy of vaccines from both Republicans and Democrats on the committee, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) notably expressed support for Mr. Kennedy’s position on vaccines.

The Senate Finance Committee will likely vote next week on moving Mr. Kennedy’s nomination forward to the full Senate. NACCHO Government Affairs is monitoring the new Administration’s Cabinet nominees and will continue to update members through NACCHO Voice and News from Washington.