Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — will be on Capitol Hill this week as he seeks to garner support from lawmakers ahead of his Senate confirmation hearings.
Kennedy, a former Democrat-turned-Trump-ally, is expected to meet with over a dozen lawmakers and will likely be pressed on some of his public health positions, including his outspoken opposition to fluoride in drinking water and skepticism about vaccines.
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Kennedy has said he is not “anti-vaccine.” However, he has made numerous claims about vaccines that have been disputed by major health organizations, and repeatedly tried to tie vaccines to autism.
New reporting has linked Kennedy to an effort to revoke the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the polio vaccine, which has been safely administered in the U.S. since 1955.
According to the New York Times, Aaron Siri, an attorney who is helping Kennedy select staffers to work under him, petitioned the FDA in 2022 to revoke its approval of the vaccine. That petition is still open and the FDA tells CNN it is “continuing to review it.”
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Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is a survivor of childhood polio, is now speaking out against the petition and seemingly issuing a warning to Kennedy.
“Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed — they’re dangerous,” McConnell said in a statement, without mentioning Kennedy by name. “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.”
Republicans have a large enough majority in the next Congress to not need Democratic votes to confirm any of Trump’s cabinet nominations. However, that majority is still slim enough that the party can sustain only a few defections.
