
In the very first of 2 public sit-downs with the Us senate that will certainly determine his feasible future as assistant of the Division of Health And Wellness and Human Being Providers, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. encountered virtually 4 hours of concerns concerning his decadeslong public document.
Kennedy, a previous Democrat from a tradition political family members that tossed his weight behind Head of state Donald Trump in 2024 with the “Make America Healthy and balanced Again” activity, is a long time ecological legal representative. He’s maybe most understood for his operate in examining the security and efficiency of vaccinations– a subject on Wednesday that he repetitively looked for to pacify legislators on, without much obvious good luck amongst Democrats.
If verified, Kennedy would certainly supervise of supervising a large government company that handles the healthcare of some 170 million Americans, manages accessibility to medicines and vaccinations, and tracks immediate episodes of conditions and foodborne ailments.
Kennedy go back to the Us senate on Thursday for one more hearing. Right here are the essential takeaways from the first day:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Head of state Donald Trump’s selection to be Assistant of Health And Wellness and Human being Providers, shows up prior to the Us senate Money Board for his verification hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 29, 2025.
Allison Dinner/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
RFJ Jr. shows up to alter his position on vaccinations
Kennedy stated a number of times throughout his hearing on Wednesday that he sustains vaccinations, usually in blunter terms and with even more vitality than his previous public remarks. However that unsupported claims negated years of incorrect declarations he has actually made concerning the risks of vaccinations and false information concerning vaccinations.
” Report have actually declared that I’m anti-vaccine or any type of market. I am neither. I am pro-safety,” Kennedy stated in his opening up declaration. While Kennedy has, in the past, refuted he is “anti-vaccine” and has stated his kids have actually been immunized, he has actually advertised sights on vaccinations that years of proof has actually shot down.
He promised, after a barbecuing Wednesday from Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, to “not do anything as HHS assistant that makes it tough or inhibits individuals from taking” the measles and polio vaccinations.
” I sustain the measles injection. I sustain the polio injection,” Kennedy stated.
Kennedy has actually freely examined the prevalent management of those vaccinations, claiming throughout a podcast meeting in 2014 that he would certainly not take the measles injection himself and minimizing the deadliness of the illness by associating measles-related fatalities in Africa to “lack of nutrition,” not the illness itself.
Nevertheless, both measles and polio can be harmful. Prior to the measles injection was presented in the USA, approximately 400 to 500 individuals passed away yearly, according to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention Prior to the polio injection was established, the infection eliminated or paralyzed virtually half a million individuals globally yearly in the mid-20th century, according to the World Health Organization
Kennedy additionally shared assistance throughout the hearing for the childhood vaccine schedule, which recommends what vaccinations kids must obtain and when, regardless of the stream of objection he has actually leveled recently.
Kennedy has actually incorrectly connected the injection routine to a surge in persistent illness, claiming throughout a project occasion in 2014, “What I’m concentrated on is the larger problem of persistent illness, which is connected to the injection routine in many cases, the surge of persistent illness.”
Kennedy has actually additionally been vital of the variety of vaccinations kids obtain.
Childhood years vaccinations have actually gradually boosted in current years as brand-new shots have actually been authorized complying with durable scientific tests on their security and efficiency, boosting the variety of conditions that are currently avoidable through injection, the CDC states.
According to the CDC, also if children obtain a number of inoculations in eventually, their body immune systems are under dramatically even more stress from the germs and infections they run into daily in their atmosphere.
Noticing Kennedy’s change on vaccinations on Wednesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., asked Kennedy concerning onesies marketed on the internet site of a company of which Kennedy is a creator, the not-for-profit Kid’s Health and wellness Protection, which goes after anti-vaccine reasons. The onesies were marked with expressions such as “Unvaxxed, Unafraid,” and “No Vax, No Worry.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders motions, infront of display screens including photos of a Kid’s Health and wellness Protection Tees, throughout an Us senate Money Board verification hearing on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s election to be Assistant of Health And Wellness and Human Being Providers, in Washington, Jan. 29, 2025.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
” Can you inform us since you will, since you are pro-vaccine, that you’re mosting likely to have your company take these items off the marketplace?” Sanders asked.
Kennedy stated he had actually surrendered from the board and holds “no power over that company.”
After moving abortion setting, RFK Jr. guarantees to “execute [Trump’s] plans”
When asked Wednesday concerning his sights on abortion, which turned significantly throughout his project, Kennedy hemmed snugly to Head of state Trump’s setting on the problem, claiming he assumes “the states must manage abortion.”
Kennedy’s very own public position on abortion has actually differed hugely throughout his governmental project, and he sometimes supported for reproductive legal rights that would certainly remain in straight problem with Trump’s project guarantees.
” I concur with Head of state Trump that every abortion is a misfortune. I concur with him that we can not be an ethical country if we have 1.2 million abortions a year. I concur with him that the states must manage abortion,” Kennedy stated on Wednesday.
Kennedy stated he would certainly sustain Trump in functioning to “finish late-term abortions,” a non-medical expression made use of by the anti-abortion activity to explain abortions late in maternity, which the Guttmacher Institute states make up much less than 1% of abortions and are regularly the outcome of complicated clinical concerns.
Kennedy additionally vouched to secure “principles exceptions,” which would certainly increase securities for healthcare service providers that do not intend to do abortion treatments, permitting even more service providers to refute treatment.
” Requiring someone to take part in a clinical treatment as a carrier that they think is murder does not make any type of feeling to me,” Kennedy stated.
Kennedy additionally devoted to checking into mifepristone, the abortion tablet that is made use of in virtually two-thirds of abortions across the country. He stated he would certainly guide the Fda to check out the security of the tablet and take into consideration curtailing telemedicine accessibility to the tablet– both activities that can have extensive influence on accessibility to the medicine, which the FDA has actually established secure to make use of as suggested and guided.
” Head of state Trump has actually asked me to research the security of mifepristone. He has actually not yet decided on just how to manage it. Whatever he does, I will certainly execute those plans,” Kennedy stated.
” I’m mosting likely to– I offer at the satisfaction of the head of state. I’m mosting likely to apply his plans,” Kennedy stated.
However as just recently as March 2024, Kennedy informed Reuters he believed it needs to be a female’s right to choose concerning abortion “throughout the maternity.” He has additionally stated he sustains the exact same gain access to and restrictions that were given by Roe v. Wade, which legislated abortion in all united state states.
Given that Trump chose him to lead Health and wellness and Human being Providers, Kennedy has actually encountered rigid blowback from traditionalists, significantly previous Vice Head of state Mike Pence, that assert he is not adequately anti-abortion.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Head of state Donald Trump’s selection to be Assistant of Health And Wellness and Human being Providers, shows up prior to the Us senate Money Board for his verification hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 29, 2025.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., pressed Kennedy on his repetitive changes on the problem of reproductive legal rights.
” You have actually plainly mentioned in the past that physical freedom is just one of your core worths. The inquiry is, do you represent that worth or otherwise? When was it that you determined to offer out the worths you’ve had your entire life in order to be enabled by Head of state Trump?” she stated.
” Legislator, I concur with Head of state Trump that every abortion is a misfortune,” Kennedy stated.
Previous remarks return to haunt RFK Jr.
Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., checked out out loud declared previous remarks made by Kennedy, consisting of misguided insurance claims concerning transgender kids.
” Did you claim that direct exposure to chemicals triggers kids to end up being transgender?” Bennet asked.
” No, I never ever stated that,” Kennedy responded.
Nevertheless, Kennedy has actually duplicated a misguided conspiracy concept recommending endocrine disruptors, consisting of phthalates– that make chemicals a lot more sturdy– and chemicals, can affect sexual preference or sex identification.
” I intend to simply seek simply one inquiry on these, you recognize, the various other endocrine disruptors since our kids currently, you recognize, we’re seeing these influences that individuals believe are extremely various than in ages past concerning sex-related recognition amongst kids and sex-related complication, sex complication,” Kennedy stated throughout an episode of his podcast in June 2022. “These type of concerns that are extremely, extremely questionable today.”
Apparently uncertain understanding of Medicaid under HHS
Kennedy appeared to stumble when going over elements of the company he would certainly be entrusted with running if he were to be verified as HHS assistant.
He declared Medicaid, a government medical insurance program for impaired and low-income Americans, is “not functioning.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Head of state Trump’s candidate to be Assistant of Health And Wellness and Human being Providers, affirms prior to an Us senate Money Board verification hearing on Capitol Hillside in Washington, Jan. 29, 2025.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
” Most individuals that get on Medicaid are not satisfied. The costs are too expensive. The deductibles are too expensive,” Kennedy stated throughout his hearing.
Nevertheless, other than in extremely slim scenarios, there are no costs or deductibles under Medicaid.
Kennedy additionally declared that “nearly absolutely nothing is researched” at the National Institutes of Health and wellness concerning the etiology, or the reason, of “our persistent illness epidemic.”
There are a number of institutes and centers at the NIH devoted to investigating persistent conditions, in addition to training healthcare experts and sharing details.