RFK Jr.’s Senate Testimony Is Haunted by His Track Record

But Kennedy’s prior record of discrediting vaccines and his connection to the anti-vaccine movement was a major sticking point for Democrats and a handful of Republicans. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts suggested Wednesday that Kennedy could undercut vaccines by making changes to the country’s immunization schedule. In response, Kennedy said, “I support vaccines. I support the childhood schedule.” I will do that. The only thing I want is good science, and that’s it.”

Republican senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine on Thursday also stressed the importance of vaccines and asked Kennedy to promise that he would use his position to promote confidence in them. “We can’t be going backward without our vaccines,” Murkowski said.

A top Republican, Senator Bill Cassidy from Louisiana, said in Thursday’s hearing he was “struggling” with Kennedy’s nomination. “As a physician who’s been involved in immunization programs, I’ve seen the benefits of vaccinations. I know they save lives,” he said. “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?”

That past wasn’t all that long ago. Kennedy’s claims associating autism with vaccines go back years, but as recently as 2023 he said in an interview with Fox News, “I do believe that autism does come from vaccines.” Many large studies, however, have found no connection. In a podcast appearance the same year, Kennedy said, “There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective.”

Kennedy has previously raised doubts about the safety of the Covid-19 vaccines and HPV shot and questioned the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for when children should get vaccinated. From 2015 to 2023, he chaired Children’s Health Defense, an activist organization that has spread vaccine misinformation and filed lawsuits challenging vaccines.

Kennedy attempted to walk back many of those controversial remarks this week, saying some of them were taken out of context, but he repeatedly dodged the question of whether vaccines cause autism when grilled by Cassidy and Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont. Instead, Kennedy asked why the CDC hasn’t done more to investigate the causes of autism. “Why don’t we know the answer after 30 years of a steady rise in the autism rate? Why don’t we know the answer to that? We should know the answer.”

In fact, researchers think there is no single cause of autism but believe a combination of genetic factors and environmental ones, such as exposure to pollutants or viral infections, are at play. The increase in autism rates is likely due to greater awareness of the neurodevelopmental disorder and more testing in recent years.

For many Republican senators, Kennedy’s prior comments on vaccines did not seem to be an issue. Senator Rand Paul, a Republican and eye doctor from Kentucky, chose to not ask Kennedy any questions on Thursday and instead came to his defense. “The discussion over vaccines is so oversimplified and dumbed down that we never really get to real truths,” he said. “We don’t know what causes autism, so we should be more humble in what we say.”

Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma echoed Paul’s sentiments, saying, “I don’t understand why my colleagues all of a sudden say we can’t question science.” Tommy Tuberville of Alabama said that his son and daughter-in-law have “done their research on vaccines” and that his granddaughter “won’t be a pincushion.”

It’s not clear from his confirmation hearings which Kennedy the American people would get as HHS secretary—the one that would erode public trust in vaccines or the one who openly supports them. And despite his reasonable, bipartisan positions on obesity and chronic diseases, his confirmation could hinge on the vaccine question.

The Senate Finance Committee is expected to vote next week on whether to advance Kennedy’s nomination to the full Senate, which will make the final decision on his confirmation. If confirmed, Kennedy would lead a vast agency with a $1.7 trillion budget that includes the CDC, Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.