And how he reacted to being pressed on his more controversial views.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is in the hot seat as he vies for the role of President Trump’s next Secretary of Health and Human Services. His first confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday was anything but smooth, sparking heated debate and intense scrutiny.
Democrats challenged the former White House hopeful over his past inflammatory and inaccurate claims, including his assertion that Covid vaccines were approved “without any scientific basis.” In response, he attempted to reassure lawmakers, stating that he is now “supportive of vaccines.”
His nomination has faced significant opposition, including from his own family. His cousin, Caroline Kennedy, penned a blistering letter to the Senate urging them to reject his nomination, calling him a “predator” who is “addicted to attention and power.”
Kennedy also still faces some hurdles: The Senate Finance Committee is set to vote on whether to advance his nomination to a full Senate vote, where the outcome remains uncertain given the chamber’s narrow margin. If no Democrats cross the aisle to vote for Kennedy, he can afford to lose only three Republican votes.
He will also appear Thursday before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. In the meantime, here are key takeaways from his latest testimony.
Kennedy defends his vaccine stance
In his opening remarks before the panel, Kennedy pushed back against criticisms of his vaccine views. “I support the measles vaccine, I support the polio vaccine, and as HHS Secretary, I will do nothing that makes it difficult or discourages people from getting them,” he stated.
He further emphasized his support for the current childhood vaccination schedule and rejected being labeled a conspiracy theorist. “That’s a pejorative used to discredit me and prevent me from asking difficult questions about powerful interests,” he told senators.
However, when Democratic Senator Ron Wyden asked if measles is deadly, Kennedy didn’t give a direct answer, instead reiterating that he was not anti-vaccine.
Senators also called attention to Kennedy’s past misinformation regarding the safety of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which had been linked to a deadly measles outbreak in Samoa in 2019 that claimed the lives of dozens of children. The outbreak came just months after Kennedy visited the island nation.
In response, Kennedy remarked, “You cannot find a single Samoan who says, ‘I didn’t get vaccinated because of Bobby Kennedy.’”
He struggled to explain his other unfounded theories
Democrats pressed Kennedy to address several of his false claims, many of which he walked back. For example, he denied suggesting that man-made chemicals in the environment could be influencing children’s sexual orientation or gender identity. However, in a 2023 podcast, he said, “I think a lot of the problems we see in kids, particularly boys, are probably underappreciated in terms of how much of it is caused by chemical exposures, including a lot of the sexual dysphoria we’re seeing.”
Kennedy also denied comparing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to “Nazi death camps.”
“I was not comparing the CDC to Nazi death camps; I was comparing the injury rate to our children to other atrocities,” he clarified. “I wouldn’t, of course, compare the CDC to Nazi death camps. If any of my statements have been interpreted that way, I disagree with that.”
However, Kennedy did acknowledge one of his more controversial theories. When asked if he had suggested that Lyme disease was “highly likely to have been” a bioweapon from the military, Kennedy admitted, “I probably did say that.'”
His views on abortion have shifted (a lot)
Kennedy pledged to support President Trump’s anti-abortion policies, despite previously identifying as pro-choice. Less than a year ago, while running for president as an independent, he stated there should be no restrictions on abortion — though he later walked back that position.
During the hearing, Kennedy repeatedly told senators that he believed “every abortion is a tragedy” and noted that his family is “split on life and choice.” However, since Trump nominated him, Kennedy has assured Republican senators that he intends to carry out the president’s agenda rather than his own. “I serve at the pleasure of the president. I’m going to implement his policies,” he said.
Democrats pounced on his reversal on abortion, accusing him of hypocrisy.
“When did you decide to sell out the values you’ve held your whole life in order to gain power from President Trump?” asked Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan. During her lining of questioning, staffers held up posters with Kennedy’s previous pro-choice comments, including one from a 2023 interview on the Charlie Kirk Show, where he said, “We need to trust women to make that choice because I don’t trust government to make any choices…particularly when it comes to bodily autonomy.”
In response, Kennedy repeated, “Senator, I agree with President Trump, every abortion is a tragedy.”
But perhaps Kennedy’s most significant comments came on mifepristone, also known as the abortion pill. He signaled that Trump had tasked him with reviewing the pill’s safety and possibly limiting it. “President Trump has asked me to study the safety of mifepristone,” Kennedy said. “He has not yet taken a stand on how to regulate it.”
Kennedy struggled to answer basic questions on healthcare coverage
Kennedy stumbled over some healthcare coverage basics, underscoring concerns that he and other Trump appointees lack relevant experience.
At one point, Kennedy described Medicaid as “fully paid for” by the federal government, even though states also fund the program. He also claimed that many Medicaid enrollees were frustrated by high costs, claiming that premiums and deductibles “are too high.” However, most patients with this coverage generally don’t pay premiums or deductibles.
Other times, he appeared to confuse Medicaid with Medicare, a federal program that provides coverage to older and disabled Americans.
Some senators were not impressed with his answers. “I find your presentation to be both untrustworthy and unprepared, because my colleagues have been seeing back and forth between Medicare and Medicaid,” Wyden said. “And it’s not clear which program you’re using when.”
