It didn’t take long for the confirmation hearing of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to turn contentious as Senate Democrats grilled him.
The verbal fireworks exploded minutes into the Senate Finance Committee hearing on Wednesday, the first of two straight days of congressional confirmation hearings for the controversial vaccine skeptic and environmental crusader who ran for the White House in 2024 before ending his bid and endorsing Trump.
Kennedy repeatedly insisted that he was not “anti-vaccine” and slammed multiple Democrat senators for pushing a “dishonest” narrative against him that he has “corrected” on national television many times. Democrats on the committee pointed to a slew of past comments from the nominee in which he questioned or disparaged COVID shots and other vaccines.
“The receipts show that Mr. Kennedy has embraced conspiracy theories, quacks, and charlatans, especially when it comes to the safety and efficacy of vaccines. He’s made it his life’s work to sow doubt and discourage parents from getting their kids life-saving vaccines,” Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the panel, charged in his opening statement.
MULTIPLE OUTBURSTS AT COMBUSTIBLE RFK JR. CONFIRMATION HEARING
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on his nomination to be Health and Human Services Secretary, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on January 29, 2025. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Moments later, as Kennedy delivered his own opening comments and said “news reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. I am neither. I am pro-safety,” a protester shouted out “you lie.”
The heckler was led out of the hearing room by Capitol Police, as was a second protester minutes later.
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And another protester was spotted in the audience holding a sign reading, “Vaccines Save Lives, Not RFK JR.”
A protestor holds up a sign reading “Vaccines save lives” as Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on his nomination to be Health and Human Services Secretary, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, January 29, 2025. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Democrats on the committee repeatedly pointed to Kennedy’s controversial vaccine views, including his repeated claims in recent years linking vaccines to autism, which have been debunked by scientific research.
They also spotlighted Kennedy’s service for years as chair or chief legal counsel for Children’s Health Defense, the nonprofit organization he founded that has advocated against vaccines and sued the federal government numerous times, including a challenge over the authorization of the COVID vaccine for children.
In his opening statement, which Fox News exclusively obtained ahead of the hearing, Kennedy spotlighted that “I believe vaccines play a critical role in healthcare. All of my kids are vaccinated. I’ve written books about vaccines. My first book in 2014, the first line of it is ‘I am not anti-vaccine’ and last line is ‘I am not anti-vaccine.’”
FOX NEWS SCOOP: RFK JR.’S OPENING STATEMENT AT MUST WATCH HEARING
But he quickly faced a grilling from Democrats.
Wyden led off his questioning of Kennedy, the scion of the nation’s most storied political dynasty, by spotlighting a scathing letter from the nominee’s well-known cousin, Caroline Kennedy, which accused him of being a “predator” and urged lawmakers to reject the nomination.
The senator also pointed to past Kennedy vaccine comments in podcasts, including one from 2020 when he said he “pay anything” to be able to go back in time and not vaccinate his kids.
“Are you lying to Congress today when you say you are pro-vaccine? Or did you lie on all those podcasts?” Wyden asked.
Pushing back in a very heated exchange, Kennedy claimed that statements he made on podcasts have “been repeatedly debunked.”
And he vowed that he would do nothing to prevent Americans from obtaining certain vaccines.
“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 anything,” Kennedy emphasized.
The next Democrat to question Kennedy, Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, accused him of peddling half-truths, peddling false statements.”
Benett grew heated as he asked Kennedy about other past comments, asking, “Did you say Lyme disease is a highly likely militarily engineered bioweapon?”
“I probably did say that,” Kennedy answered.
RFK JR. ACCUSES DEMOCRATS OF PUSHING DISHONEST NARRATIVE
And Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, who has known Kennedy for decades – dating back to their days as law school students at the University of Virginia, told his friend “frankly, you frighten people.”
If confirmed, Kennedy would have control over 18 powerful federal agencies overseeing the nation’s food and health, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies during his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on January 29, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The 71-year-old Kennedy launched a long-shot campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination against President Joe Biden in April 2023. But six months later, he switched to an independent run for the White House.
Kennedy made major headlines again last August when he dropped his presidential bid and endorsed Trump. While Kennedy had long identified as a Democrat and repeatedly invoked his late father, former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and his late uncle, former President John F. Kennedy – who were both assassinated in the 1960s – Kennedy in recent years built relationships with far-right leaders due in part to his high-profile vaccine skepticism.
Trump announced soon after the November election that he would nominate Kennedy to his Cabinet to run HHS.
In the two months since Trump’s announcement, it’s not just Democrats who’ve raised questions about Kennedy’s confirmation. Social conservative Republicans took issue with his past comments in support of abortion rights.
“My belief is we should leave it to the woman. We shouldn’t have the government involved, even if it’s full term,” Kennedy said as he ran for president.
But since endorsing Trump, Kennedy has walked back his stance on abortion. And in an exchange Wednesday with Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Kennedy declared “I agree with President Trump that every abortion is a tragedy.”
Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a former two-time Democratic presidential candidate, argued that Kennedy made a “major U-turn” on abortion.
Kennedy was also questioned about how he would reform Medicare and Medicaid, the massive government health care programs used by millions of older, disabled, and low-income Americans.
“I don’t have a broad proposal for dismantling the program,” Kennedy said of Medicaid.
And he said that President Trump hadn’t asked him to cut the program but rather “asked me to make it better.”
Kennedy, whose outspoken views on big pharma and the food industry have also sparked controversy, vowed that “if confirmed, I will do everything in my power to put the health of Americans back on track.”
While Democrats may find common ground with Kennedy’s aim to shift the focus of the agencies he would oversee toward promotion of a healthy lifestyle – including overhauling dietary guidelines and take aim at ultra-processed foods – and getting to the root causes of chronic diseases, Kennedy lamented that they oppose him because he’s Trump’s nominee.
“Now they’re against me because anything that President Trump does, any decision he makes, has to be lampooned, derided, discredited, marginalized, vilified,” Kennedy argued.
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With Republicans controlling the Senate by a 53-47 majority, Kennedy can only afford to lose the support of three GOP senators if Democrats unite against his confirmation. During Wednesday’s hearing, no Republicans appeared to oppose the nomination.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina appeared to lean into the Democrats’ attacks on Kennedy, asking “I got a real quick question for you: Are you a conspiracy theorist?”
Kennedy answered that it “is a pejorative that’s applied to me mainly to keep me from asking difficult questions of powerful interests.”
GOP Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, a chemical engineer, spotlighted that there are several Republican doctors on the committee.
“We believe in science. I’m thankful that you do, too,” Daines said.
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Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a physician who said he had a “frank conversation” with Kennedy about immunizations when they met earlier this month, didn’t ask about vaccines during the committee hearing. Instead, he kept his questions to federal healthcare programs, including Medicare.
Meanwhile, GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin took aim at Democrats on the committee for what he claimed was “hostility on the other side… I’m disappointed with it.”
The hearing ended three and a half hours after it began, with Kennedy departing the committee room to cheers from supporters.
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.
