The most anticipated hearings come Wednesday, when Kennedy will take questions from Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.). Cassidy is chairman of the Senate health committee and sits on the Finance Committee.
Cassidy, a physician, cast the deciding vote to make Kennedy health secretary after publicly wrestling with the decision. But he has since clashed with Kennedy over vaccines and the firing of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Susan Monarez, who was ousted after being on the job less than a month. Cassidy is also facing a Trump-backed primary challenger during this year’s reelection campaign.
Last September, Cassidy publicly requested Kennedy testify before the health committee for an oversight hearing to “share his side of the story” about the Monarez firing. Nothing was ever scheduled, and President Trump just announced the nomination of a new agency director who will need Senate confirmation.
During three hearings in the House last week, Kennedy tried to avoid talking about vaccines and instead leaned into messaging about food and drug pricing. The White House has made a concerted effort to steer clear of officials mentioning the controversial vaccine changes ahead of November’s midterm elections over fears of alienating voters.
Polls show the administration is right to worry.
For instance, a poll released Monday by the Partnership to Fight Infectious Disease showed Americans prefer congressional candidates who support vaccine access and want immunization recommendations free of political interference.
Half of voters polled said they were less confident in their political leaders after recent federal changes to recommendations. According to the poll, 54 percent said they would be less likely to support a candidate who seeks to roll back vaccine recommendations, even if they agree with that candidate on other issues.
Even among those in the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, support for a candidate that wants to maintain vaccine access beat out support for a candidate who wants to roll back vaccine recommendations by a +29-point margin.
