STAT+: Cassidy gave himself a difficult task. RFK Jr. isn’t making it any easier on him
Cassidy received commitments from the nation’s health secretary in return for Cassidy’s support, but those promises are difficult to enforce.
WASHINGTON — Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said he would be Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s keeper, but the physician-turned-politician is struggling to stop the nation’s health secretary from undermining public trust in vaccines.
Cassidy has taken the lead for his party on keeping Kennedy in line on immunization policy. During Kennedy’s confirmation hearings to be Health and Human Services Department secretary, Cassidy challenged Kennedy’s false assertions about vaccines directly and forcefully. He started the hearing with a personal story about the harm caused by vaccine hesitancy, and he ended with a monologue that warned of the political damage Kennedy could cause President Trump.
Nevertheless, Cassidy, who is facing reelection in two years in a state that voted heavily in favor of Trump, relented, backing Kennedy’s confirmation. Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.) was the sole Republican to vote against Kennedy’s confirmation, citing Kennedy’s “record of trafficking in dangerous conspiracy theories and eroding trust in public health institutions.”
