MAHA A sicker America: Senate confirms Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary In Senate hearings, Kennedy continued to express anti-vaccine views. Beth Mole Feb 13, 2025 11:31 am | 3 WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 30: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (R), U.S. President Donald Trumps nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services speaks with U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) after testifying in his Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions confirmation hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on January 30, 2025 in Washington, DC. Kennedy is testifying for a second day following a tense three-hour hearing before the Senate Finance Committee where he clashed with Democrats over his stance on vaccines and abortion rights. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) Credit: Getty | Kevin Dietsch WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 30: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (R), U.S. President Donald Trumps nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services speaks with U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) after testifying in his Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions confirmation hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on January 30, 2025 in Washington, DC. Kennedy is testifying for a second day following a tense three-hour hearing before the Senate Finance Committee where he clashed with Democrats over his stance on vaccines and abortion rights. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) Credit: Getty | Kevin Dietsch Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreThe US Senate on Thursday confirmed the long-time anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services.The vote was largely along party lines, with a tally of 52 to 48. Sen. Mitch McConnell (RKy.), a polio survivor and steadfast supporter of vaccines, voted against the confirmation, the only Republican to do so.Before the vote, Minority Leader Charles Schumer (DN.Y.) claimed that if there had been a secret ballot today, most Republicans would have voted against Kennedy. "But sadly, and unfortunately for America, Republicans are being strong-armed by Donald Trump and will end up holding their nose and voting to confirm Mr. Kennedy... What a travesty," Schumer said.Senator Mike Crapo (RIdaho) shot back, supporting Kennedy's nomination and chastising his colleagues for their continued "attacks" on Kennedy. "He has made it very clear that he will support safe vaccinations and just wants to see that the research on them is done and done well," Crapo said, seemingly not acknowledging the vast wealth of high-quality research that has already been done on vaccine safety and efficacy.As the top health official for the Trump administration, Kennedy says he will focus on improving nutrition and reducing chronic diseases, in part by cracking down on food additives, processed foods, and the influence of food and drug makers on federal agencies. Prior to his confirmation, he campaigned on the slogan "Make America Healthy Again," aka MAHA, which he has moved to trademark.Anti-vaccine advocacyWhile his stated goals have drawn support and praise from some lawmakers and health advocates, his confirmation has been highly controversial because he is one of the most prominent and influential anti-vaccine advocates in the country. He has worked for decades to erode trust in safe, life-saving vaccinations as the head of the anti-vaccine organization he founded, Children's Health Defense, and spread misinformation and conspiracy theories. Upon seeking the confirmation, he transferred his trademark application to an LLC managed by Del Bigtree, another prominent anti-vaccine advocate who has spread conspiracy theories.In Senate committee hearings last month, Kennedy tried to claim that he was a proponent of vaccines, yet he refused to say that vaccines do not cause autism (a fact supported by extensive, high-quality research conducted over decades). He did not deny previously saying that the health workers who run our country's vaccine program should be in jail or comparing them to Nazis and pedophiles. In 2021, Kennedy petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to revoke the authorization of all COVID-19 vaccines and block all future approvals, an act he defended in the hearing despite evidence that the vaccines saved the lives of more than 3 million people in the US.In the hearings, Kennedy also did not deny spreading dangerous conspiracy theories and other harmful misinformation. For instance, he did not deny saying that Lyme disease is a military bioweapon (it is not) or that AIDS is a different disease in Africa than it is in the US (it is not).Senators also noted that he has been recorded as falsely suggesting that COVID-19 is "ethnically targeted" to "attack Caucasians and Black people" while sparing "Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese." In an exchange with Senator Angela Alsobrooks (DMd.), Kennedy wrongly claimed that Black children should get a different schedule of vaccines than white children, a claim not supported by science. "That is so dangerous," Alsobrooks responded.A sicker AmericaDemocratic senators strongly pushed back against Kennedy's confirmation Wednesday, spending long hours arguing against his confirmation. On the floor of the Senate Wednesday morning, Senator Ronald Wyden (DOre.) kicked things off, saying that a vote to confirm Kennedy for the top health position "is a vote for a sicker America."Prior to an impassioned speech Wednesday, Senator Patty Murray (DWash.) reiterated her opposition in a Bluesky post Tuesday evening, writing: "I've met with many cabinet nominees across many admins, and my meeting with RFK Jr. was by far the most troubling. He rattled off debunked conspiracy theories & lied to my facedenying his own statements he'd made on record. We cannot confirm an anti-vaxxer as Secretary of Health."One Republican senator who seemed to be considering voting against Kennedy amid the hearings last month was Senator Bill Cassidy (RLa.), a former physician himself. In one hearing, Cassidy said he was "struggling" with the idea of confirming Kennedy, taking issue with his anti-vaccine advocacy and the unlikelihood of him reversing his stance."[A]s someone who had discussed immunizations with thousands of people... I have approached it using the preponderance of evidence to reassure, and you have approached it using selective evidence to cast doubt," Cassidy said. He later wondered aloud: "Does a 71-year-old man who has spent decades criticizing vaccines and is financially invested in finding faults with vaccines, can he change his attitudes and approach now that he'll have the most important position influencing vaccine policy in the United States?... Will you overturn a new leaf?"Declining vaccinationsBut Cassidy's reluctance appeared short-lived. A few days later, he posted on social media that he "had very intense conversations with Bobby and the White House over the weekend and even this morning... With the serious commitments Ive received from the administration and the opportunity to make progress on the issues we agree on like healthy foods and a pro-American agenda, I will vote yes."Kennedy's confirmation comes at a precarious time for America's vaccination program and its ability to stamp out vaccine-preventable diseases. In the past five years, the vaccination rate among US kindergartners has fallen from 95 percentthe target coverage rate to prevent infectious diseases from spreading onward in a communityto the range of 92 percent. Exemptions from school vaccination requirements have never been higher. At least 14 states now have exemption rates at or above 5 percent, meaning that even if every non-exempt child is vaccinated, the state would not be able to hit the 95 percent target.The result is more frequent and farther-reaching outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles. The disease, one of the most infectious in the world, was declared eliminated from the US in 2000, meaning it was not continuously transmitted for 12 months. Health researchers have noted that the US is at risk of losing its measles elimination status, a feared setback for public health that already almost occurred in 2019.Beth MoleSenior Health ReporterBeth MoleSenior Health Reporter Beth is Ars Technicas Senior Health Reporter. Beth has a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attended the Science Communication program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She specializes in covering infectious diseases, public health, and microbes. 3 Comments