By Sabrina McCrear

Howard University News Service

The U.S. Senate Finance Committee voted 14-13 today in support of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy now faces a vote before the full Senate.

Senate members on both sides of the aisle have scrutinized Kennedy’s public statements, depicting him as an anti-vaccine theorist, pro-choice and misinformed on several issues under the jurisdiction of the HHS secretary.

During the confirmation hearings, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., gave opening remarks and recited numerous instances in which he feared Kennedy’s attempts to spread misinformation would be a threat to the public’s health.

More specifically Wyden narrowed in on Kennedy’s fleeting stance on most issues.

“Mr. Kennedy has changed his views so often it is nearly impossible to know where he stands on so many of the basic issues that impact American daily lives,” Wyden said.

Nevertheless, in his opening statement, Kennedy made it very clear where he stood on relatively every matter the public and senators questioned him on.

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Why Is Kennedy Such a Controversial Pick?

Kennedy has a history of making false claims, spreading misinformation and making harmful suggestions in the name of health care.

Multiple senators, during the hearing, referenced Kennedy’s infamous 2021 book, “The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health.”

In the book, Kennedy accuses Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), of unethical behavior. He says that Fauci made fraudulent claims and fabrications in the name of advancing medicinal vaccines.

This is one of the primary sources senators referenced when questioning Kennedy about his stance on vaccines.

His book suggests that Fauci conducted unethical experiments for decades, fueling Kennedy’s skepticism about every vaccine.

Furthermore, Wyden quoted Kennedy from the Lex Fridman podcast interview from July of 2023 where he said, “No vaccine is safe and effective.”

Kennedy responded that the quote had been taken out of context and that the complete quote would have been, “There are no vaccines that are safe and effective,” he said during the hearing. “For every person, every medicine has people [who] are sensitive to them.”

On the other hand, Kennedy’s cousin, former Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, criticized him in a statement that she sent to senators. The daughter of President John F. Kennedy recited the letter in a video that her son posted on X (formerly known as Twitter). The statement read in part: “Bobby preys on the desperation of parents of sick children — vaccinating his own children while building a following by hypocritically discouraging other parents from vaccinating theirs.”

Ambassador Caroline Kennedy’s statement to the US Senate on RFKJr’s nomination for HHS Secretary

This is a reading of a letter she just sent to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions

I’m so proud of my courageous mother, who’s lived a life of dignity,… pic.twitter.com/feysNA0Wwp

— Jack Schlossberg (@JBKSchlossberg) January 28, 2025

Additionally, Wyden also brought up Kennedy’s petition of the Food and Drug Administration to block the COVID-19 vaccine and prevent access to any potentially life-saving vaccines in the future.

Kennedy did not deny the claim but rebutted the senator’s statement,  saying that the “CDC recommended the COVID vaccine without any scientific basis.”

However, the National Institutes of Health published an analysis of data collected from COVID-19 vaccine recipients in November 2021 and concluded that the “vaccines are highly protective against SARS-CoV-2-related diseases in real-world settings.”

Kennedy’s Stance on Abortion

From day one of his confirmation hearings, Kennedy stated multiple times that he supports women’s right to choose to have an abortion.

However, his word “choice” seemed contradictory. In the instances in which he stated his pro-choice stance, Kennedy also said that abortion is a tragedy.

Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., cited a quote from Kennedy on a podcast asking, not for clarification, but rather validity. The quotation  said: “I wouldn’t leave [abortion] to the states. My belief is that we should leave it to the women. We shouldn’t have the government involved even if it’s full term.”

Bennet, along with many other senators, became heated when Kennedy would not directly answer his question.

After this podcast was released, Kennedy recanted his statement on late-term abortions. He posted another statement on X, saying that “Abortion should be legal up until a certain number of weeks, and restricted thereafter” and that “no one supports gruesome third-trimester abortions except to save the life of the mother.”

Nevertheless, Kennedy’s stance on abortion remained consistent throughout the hearing.

Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., also said she was “heartened” to see Kennedy take a stance for abortion but was skeptical of ulterior motives.

Hassan accused Kennedy of being a “sellout,” specifically after publicly denouncing abortions and then taking a pro-choice stance in 2023.

Kennedy responded that he’s aligned his stance on abortion with President Trump’s position and reiterated that “every abortion is a tragedy.”