By Stephanie Kelly
(Reuters) – Robert F. Kennedy Jr, President Donald Trump’s pick to run the top U.S. health agency, heads to the Senate Health committee on Thursday after being grilled by Democrats on a different committee over his past comments on vaccines and shifting stance on abortion rights.
On Wednesday, Kennedy, who founded the anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense, argued that he was not against vaccines to the Senate Finance Committee. Democratic lawmakers said he had embraced conspiracy theories and dissuaded the use of lifesaving medicines.
Thursday’s hearing in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is a courtesy hearing with no vote planned. The Finance committee decides whether to advance Kennedy to a full Senate vote.
If confirmed, Kennedy would run the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees more than $3 trillion in healthcare spending, including at the Food and Drug Administration and the agency in charge of the Medicare and Medicaid health insurance programs covering nearly half of all Americans.
On Wednesday, Kennedy said he would address rapidly increasing rates of chronic disease and follow Trump’s direction on abortion. He also said fewer processed foods should be available in school lunches or for purchase with food stamps, though both of those programs fall under the purview of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
He seemed unsure about how to answer some questions on Medicare, Medicaid and federally funded community health centers. Kennedy said he did not have a proposal for reforming the Medicaid program for low-income Americans but said people did not like it.
The 70-year-old environmental lawyer is seen as a controversial pick on both sides of the aisle chiefly for having spread misinformation around the safety of vaccines in the past.
The Republican-controlled Senate has not rejected any of Trump’s nominees so far. His controversial defense secretary pick, Pete Hegseth, squeaked by in a 51-50 vote after Vice President JD Vance was needed to break a tie on Friday, despite concerns that the nominee was not qualified for the position, and allegations of sexual assault and alcohol abuse.
While most of the opposition to Kennedy is driven by his stance on vaccines, some Republicans also object to his past comments in support of abortion rights, as well as his perceived stance against the pharmaceutical industry.
Opposition groups have ramped up their efforts to persuade Republican senators to vote against Kennedy. Caroline Kennedy, another member of the storied American political family, on Tuesday urged senators to vote against her cousin’s nomination, calling him a predator with dangerous views on healthcare.
Kennedy needs the support of at least 50 senators, which would allow Vance to cast another tie-breaking vote and confirm his nomination if needed.
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Editing by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot)
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