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On February 4, Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a doctor, announced that after considerable doubts he would support Robert F Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Cassidy took to the Senate floor to explain his decision, which virtually ensured that RFK Jr. would be confirmed. He said that he had extracted a number of promises from Kennedy — mostly having to do with maintaining the status quo on vaccines, where RFK Jr. had a long record of opposition to established medical science.
“[RFK Jr.] has also committed that he would work within the current vaccine approval and safety monitoring systems, and not establish parallel systems,” said Cassidy. “If confirmed, he will maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without changes.”
Exactly 125 days later, Kennedy broke his word to Cassidy — removing all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) because the panel is “plagued with conflicts of interest and has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine.”
This, to my reckoning, appears to be untrue. ACIP, in fact, published 20(!) years of potential conflicts of interest for its members back in March. You can look through the document yourself here.
Why is Kennedy making this wholesale change then? The answer seems obvious: He is someone who has voiced anti-vaccine sentiments for decades. He has taken a series of steps during his first few months in office as HHS secretary to roll back accepted vaccine standards. This move — his most high profile yet — is in keeping with that.
ACIP, which is organized within the Centers for Disease Control, is both largely unknown and hugely influential. As the New York Times explains:
The C.D.C.’s vaccine advisers wield enormous influence. They carefully review data on vaccines, debate the evidence and vote on who should get the shots and when. Insurance companies and government programs like Medicaid are required to cover the vaccines recommended by the panel.
While the 17 members of the committee are appointed by a president, they are not political appointees. The committee is staffed with pediatricians, immunologists and other doctors.
Kennedy’s goal here seems simple: He wants to handpick the members of APIC — in keeping with his belief that the medical establishment is missing the boat on vaccines.
Which, to be clear, is the EXACT opposite of what Kennedy promised Cassidy a few months ago.
Cassidy, who faces a serious primary challenger for reelection next year, avoided questions by CNN’s Manu Raju about Kennedy’s about face. Instead the Senator posted this to X:
If you think RFK Jr. is going to be listening to Cassidy on vaccines, I have an up-and-coming video rental company called Blockbuster you might be interested in buying.
