WASHINGTON – When President-elect Donald Trump tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, critics immediately pointed to Kennedy’s history of spreading vaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories.
But as Kennedy seeks to be confirmed by the Senate where his father and uncles once served, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are also raising questions about his abortion stance, past interest in challenging industrial agriculture and more.
This week, Kennedy is meeting with multiple senators responsible for considering his suitability to lead the agency. Many told USA TODAY they are waiting to have those conversations before forming an opinion on the former Democratic presidential candidate turned Trump ally.
It’s not clear whether any of the criticisms against Kennedy will be enough to actually block his nomination, as most sitting Republicans are eager to approve Trump’s nominees. But the multi-pronged concerns could endanger Kennedy’s candidacy if he fails to reassure enough senators.
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While other Trump Cabinet picks have been in the glare of the spotlight – including embattled defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth and potential director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard – Kennedy’s nomination has recently become more divisive following reports that one of his allies took aim at the long-trusted polio vaccine.
Aaron Siri, Kennedy’s top adviser helping him pick health officials for the incoming Trump administration, petitioned the Food and Drug Administration in 2022 to revoke or limit approval of the polio vaccine. If confirmed as HHS secretary, Kennedy would oversee the FDA and other departments.
Kennedy has questioned the effectiveness of vaccines for years and promoted debunked claims that certain vaccines are linked to autism. Trump, wary of vaccines in his first term, has said recently he is not against them even as he defends his nominee.
“Vaccines are incredible, but maybe some aren’t, and if they aren’t, we have to find out,” Trump told NBC earlier this month. He has since said he supports polio vaccinations.
Some Republican senators have embraced that uncertainty. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said there is an “epidemic” of autism in the United States (an uptick that experts have attributed to improved diagnoses practices). “The question of vaccines, he has a right to question it,” Mullin said.
But other GOP senators say they have questions about Kennedy’s stance on vaccines and plan to press him on it during their meetings.
“Those are the conversations that we need to have. Because I do think that vaccines save lives,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, adding that an iconic race in her state – the annual Iditarod dog sled race – reflects a 1925 run to deliver a Diphtheria vaccine that saved a community.
And Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who survived polio as a child, issued a scathing statement Friday warning Trump’s nominees to “steer clear” of casting doubt on the polio vaccine.
“Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed — they’re dangerous,” McConnell said. “Anyone seeking the Senate’s consent to serve in the incoming Administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts.”
Vaccines aren’t the only subject drawing scrutiny from lawmakers. Kennedy’s calls to limit pesticides and food dyes have raised eyebrows among farm-state senators, while his more lenient approach to abortion is expected to come into question by concerned conservatives.
Kennedy said that abortion should be legal until a fetus “is viable outside the womb” and supports the codification of Roe v. Wade. That puts him at odds with lawmakers who have backed tight abortion restrictions in the Republican conference like Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.
“I’m going to ask him about the life issues,” Lankford said. “Obviously, the first version of the Trump administration was very clear on what they thought about life and they implemented that with HHS.”
During Trump’s first administration, prior to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, HHS took actions to reduce abortion, including reinstating and expanding a policy that bars foreign NGOs from using funds to “perform or actively promote abortion.”
Trump has since said that states should decide their own abortion policy and pledged not to sign a federal abortion ban.
Mullin said Kennedy vowed during a meeting with him Monday to support Trump’s abortion policy as a Cabinet member, and other senators said they believe Trump’s stance matters more than Kennedy’s.
“These Cabinet positions, these are not (to) exercise individuality,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. “You’re there to serve a principal, and I assume that whatever his views are, he will implement the policies of his principal.”
Kennedy has also challenged the use of seed oils and pesticides in the food and agriculture industry, as well as other industrial agricultural practices.
That’s a red flag for Republicans who represent heavily agricultural states.
Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., whose state generates billions in revenue from agriculture each year, said he will need to hear certain assurances from Kennedy in order to support his nomination.
“Our farmers and ranchers are doing the best job in the world. But they’ve got to be able to use modern farming techniques,” Hoeven said. “That involves a lot of things, not only really sophisticated equipment, but also fertilizers and pesticides and things like that. So, we have to have that conversation.”
Kennedy went from opposing Trump on the 2024 presidential campaign trail to giving his full-throated endorsement in the final months before Election Day.
In exchange, Trump has included Kennedy as member of his transition team and now the potential lead health official in his second White House term.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is related to three former Democratic senators. His father, the late Robert F. Kennedy, was a U.S. attorney general who went on to represent New York in the Senate until his 1968 assassination while running for the Democratic presidential nomination. His uncles are former President John F. Kennedy, also a former Massachusetts senator who was assassinated in 1963; and former Sen. Ted Kennedy, who served from 1962 until his death in 2009.
Despite the family connections, Democrats have raised alarms in response to Kennedy’s nomination, pointing to his history of anti-vaccine rhetoric. In 2021, Instagram shut down Kennedy’s account “for repeatedly sharing debunked claims” about the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a spokesperson at the time.
“I’ve got concerns about him and his consistent and long-term denial of the effectiveness of vaccines,” Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., told USA TODAY last month. “So that’s an issue for me but I will give him a fair shake at a confirmation process.”
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said he too has concerns, though in a small glimmer of hope for Trump’s nominee, Booker added that when it comes to food reform, they are “talking out of the same playbook.”
But some Republicans have also expressed uncertainty, with many saying that they believe in vaccines.
“If we want to clear the air and sort out whether or not he’s being fairly treated, I need to know what motivated him to take that position,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.
Tillis, who said his kids received the polio vaccine, told USA TODAY that he hopes Kennedy’s ideas are “rooted in some science.”
Republicans will hold a 53-47 majority in the upper chamber next year. That means Kennedy can only afford to lose three Republican senators should all Democrats vote against him.
