WASHINGTON \u2014 Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., cast doubt Thursday over whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is qualified to be the next leader of the government\u2019s largest and most powerful health agency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cassidy, a doctor, has emerged as a key swing vote in <\/strong>Kennedy’s bid to be the secretary of health and human services. Cassidy chairs the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and sits on the Finance Committee, the two panels Kennedy testified before this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cassidy had been tight-lipped about his views on Kennedy, who has a long history of anti-vaccine activism, in the weeks since President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of Thursday’s hearing, Cassidy said he was “struggling” with Kennedy’s nomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYour past of undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns me,\u201d Cassidy said. \u201cCan I trust that that is now in the past? Can data and information change your opinion, or will you only look for data supporting a predetermined conclusion?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inquiries came one day after Kennedy tripped up over a line of questioning from Cassidy\u2002<\/a>about\u2002<\/a>Medicaid<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cassidy\u2019s reservations are a potential complication for Kennedy. As the chair of the committee, Cassidy carried the tone of the Thursday’s hearing, repeatedly questioning Kennedy\u2019s past stances, particularly concerning vaccines. He homed in at times on Kennedy\u2019s statements linking vaccines to autism and repeatedly gave him opportunities to state that vaccines don\u2019t cause the complicated neurological and developmental condition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can say that I\u2019ve approached it using the preponderance of evidence to reassure and you\u2019ve approached using selected evidence to cast doubt,\u201d Cassidy said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The underlying question, Cassidy said, is whether Kennedy could, as a 71-year-old man \u201cwho spent decades criticizing vaccines and is financially vested in finding fault with vaccines,\u201d change his ways \u201cnow that he\u2019ll have the most important position influencing vaccine policy in the United States.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a question Kennedy wouldn\u2019t answer directly. He grew emphatic at times with regard to autism, asking why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hadn\u2019t done more to look at what was causing the condition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy don\u2019t we know what\u2019s causing this epidemic? Why hasn\u2019t the CDC been looking at other hypotheses to determine … why we\u2019ve had this dramatic, 1,000% increase in this disease that is destroying our kids? It is probably the biggest issue,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cWhy don\u2019t we know the answer after 30 years of a steady rise in the autism rate? Why don\u2019t we know the answer to that? We should know the answer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scientists and advocates agree there should be more research into the cause of autism, but they have signaled<\/a> that Kennedy\u2019s dwelling on a debunked link to vaccines only risks steering precious research dollars into the only theory that has been ruled out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Doctors have long known that genes play a large role<\/a> in autism. Research suggests that the increased incidence of autism is due in part to the changing definition over time<\/a>, which today encompasses a vast range of abilities. There are also\u2002increased awareness of<\/a> and earlier screening for<\/a> the condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After Thursday’s hearing, Kennedy wouldn\u2019t respond to an NBC News reporter\u2019s questions about whether he had seen enough science to refrain from saying vaccines cause autism. At the hearing’s conclusion, Kennedy walked over to Cassidy, quietly conveyed something to him and shook his hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou may be hearing from me over the weekend,\u201d Cassidy told him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cassidy\u2019s caution about Kennedy is significant. As a member of the Finance Committee, he will vote on whether to advance the nomination to the full Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kennedy can afford to lose the support of only three Senate Republicans on the floor if all Democrats are united against him. So far, no GOP senators have publicly opposed his nomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cassidy, who was among the few Senate Republicans to vote to convict Trump in the impeachment trial in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, has already drawn<\/a> a potential primary challenger if he decides to seek re-election in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vaccines have been a central part of Cassidy\u2019s political work. In the 1990s, he helped establish a partnership in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that boasted providing 36,000 children with free vaccines against hepatitis B.<\/p>\n\n\n\n