Robert F. Kennedy Jr. isn’t hiding his big plans for the country’s vaccine safety system anymore. The health secretary and longtime vaccine skeptic pledged during his Senate confirmation earlier this year to leave that alone. But at a House health panel hearing Tuesday, Kennedy said there was ample reason to worry some vaccines aren’t safe and gave no ground to Democrats who pointed out that most scientists and public health experts vehemently disagree.
The Vaccine Safety Debate
“How can you mandate – which effectively is what they do — these products to healthy children without knowing the risk profile?” Kennedy said in explaining why he earlier this month fired 17 members of a CDC vaccine advisory panel and replaced them with eight new members, many of them skeptical of vaccine safety.
The hearing was officially about President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2026 budget proposal for the Department of Health and Human Services, but Kennedy’s testimony came after he rolled back guidance for healthy adults and children to get Covid shots and purged the outside vaccine experts. Some Democrats wanted to focus more on those decisions than Trump’s plan to cut the HHS budget by a quarter.
They pointed out that studies have consistently upheld vaccine safety and predicted Kennedy’s moves would contribute to vaccine skepticism and cost lives.
“It’s clear to me that the vast majority of scientists and medical professionals think your views on vaccines are dangerous,” said New Jersey’s Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee. “The science is not on your side. I just really think people are going to die as a result of your actions.”
After that, things got hot. Kennedy accused Pallone of abandoning people injured by vaccines because of pharmaceutical company campaign contributions.
Challenging Conventional Wisdom
Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) accused Kennedy of lying to Sen. Bill Cassidy, the chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, about his intentions on vaccine policy.
But some Republican lawmakers defended Kennedy for his willingness to challenge conventional wisdom to improve American health outcomes that are among the worst among wealthy countries.
“Thank you again for thinking outside the box. That’s what it takes,” said Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) about Kennedy’s support for drugmakers’ incentives to develop drugs for rare diseases that affect children.
Rep. Kat Cammack, another Florida Republican, said Kennedy was “a disruptor,” adding: “That’s what we need in these times because so many people, especially in Congress, want to maintain the same broken status quo.”
Public health experts, including those HHS has cited, say that’s not the case.
Conclusion
Explore the controversy surrounding RFK Jr.’s stance on vaccines and the implications for public health. Dive into the debate on vaccine safety and skepticism in this insightful article.
