Robert F. Kennedy Jr. met with multiple Republican senators on Capitol Hill on Dec. 17, intent on alleviating concerns over the health and human services secretary nominee’s stances on abortion and vaccines.
While entering Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s office, Kennedy told C-Span’s Howard Mortman that the sessions had been “really productive, really good.”
Kennedy was nominated to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by President-elect Donald Trump last month and has promised sweeping changes throughout the department.
Many Republican senators have expressed alignment with Kennedy on issues such as ending corporate capture of health agencies and removing chemicals from the U.S. food supply.
HHS manages 13 agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Kennedy told The Epoch Times in September that he would revamp the NIH to focus on the causes of autism, autoimmune diseases, and neurodevelopmental diseases instead of being involved in developing drugs and serving as an incubator for pharmaceutical products.
Under the “Make America Healthy Again” campaign, Kennedy intends to curtail what he calls the chronic disease epidemic by addressing the so-called corporate capture of federal health agencies and removing toxic chemicals from the nation’s food supply, among other objectives.
In January, Kennedy will face confirmation hearings with the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees HHS and is scheduled to be led by Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho).
If he is approved by that panel, the full Senate will vote on Kennedy’s nomination.
When the Senate convenes in January, Republicans will hold 53 seats compared to 47 for the Democrats.
Multiple lawmakers wrote positive reviews on social medial platform X about their meetings with Kennedy.
Tuberville wrote on X that the discussion “reaffirmed what I already knew: RFK Jr. is the right man to make sure our food is safe, bring transparency to vaccines and health care, and Make America Healthy Again.”
Kennedy responded with a post that read, “Put me in, coach.”
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is one of Kennedy’s most ardent supporters on Capitol Hill. The two met on Dec. 17, and after the discussion, Johnson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he’ll “work with him hopefully very closely,” noting that investigating people injured by COVID vaccines and studying “what we put in our food” will be key issues.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, arrives for a meeting in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington on Dec. 17, 2024. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Abortion was frequently mentioned by the lawmakers in their social media posts about meeting with Kennedy.
Last year, on the “Sage Steele Show,” Kennedy said, “I believe we should leave it to the woman, we shouldn’t have the government involved.” Moments later, he added “even if it’s full term.”
Days later, Kennedy clarified his stance and said that abortion should be “unrestricted up until a certain point” and advocated for policies to reduce more abortions in the United States “by choice than by force.”
Last year, Kennedy told The Epoch Times that he did not like abortion personally, but he did not think the government should have “jurisdiction over people’s bodies.”
That stance aligns with his longtime support for medical freedom and bodily autonomy, which he supported in another context during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he was a vocal opponent of mask and vaccine mandates.
He also told The Epoch Times last year that many women choose abortion for economic reasons. He said he believes the legislative emphasis should be helping women in that situation so that abortion “is never a consideration.”
Last week, former Vice President Mike Pence said that Republican senators should not vote to confirm Kennedy because of his abortion stance.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) speaks at the 2024 Road to Majority Conference in Washington on June 21, 2024. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)
After meeting with Kennedy on Dec. 17, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) wrote on X that, “He committed to me to reinstate President Trump’s prolife policies at HHS. That includes reinstating the Mexico City policy & ending taxpayer funding for abortions domestically.”
Hawley added that Kennedy said he would support a ban on “Title X funds going to organizations that promote abortion” and pledged that all of his HHS deputies would have pro-life stances.
“He told me he believes there are far too many abortions in the US and that we cannot be the moral leader of the free world with abortion rates so high,” Hawley wrote.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) wrote on X that he talked about “preventing taxpayer-funded abortion” with Kennedy.
“President Trump won a sweeping victory and should have the latitude to choose the cabinet he feels will best serve the American people,” Scott wrote. “I look forward to learning more and further considering his nomination during his upcoming confirmation hearing.”
Cast as an “anti-vaxxer” by critics, Kennedy has repeatedly said that he is not against vaccines but instead advocates for vaccine safety and informed consent.
Some lawmakers questioned Kennedy’s perceived stance on the polio vaccine.
On Dec. 13, The New York Times reported that Aaron Siri, an attorney helping Kennedy vet health appointees for the incoming Trump administration, asked the government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Dec. 13 that “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,” reported The Associated Press.
The then-former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and then-Republican presidential nominee, and now U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, shake hands during a campaign rally at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz., on Aug. 23, 2024. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
Richard Besser is the former acting CDC director and current CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He called Kennedy “a truly dangerous” choice, according to AP.
In a Nov. 17 op-ed in U.S. News and World Report, Besser said Kennedy is the “single potential Cabinet member who could do the most damage to the American people’s lives.”
During a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Dec. 17, Trump said that he is a “big believer” in the polio inoculation.
“You’re not going to lose the polio vaccine,” Trump said. “It’s not going to happen.”
Trump also said that Kennedy is “much less radical than you would think.”
“I think he’s got a very open mind or I wouldn’t have put him there,” Trump noted.
Before meeting with Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) on Dec. 17, Kennedy told reporters that he was “all for” the polio vaccine.
Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) told The Epoch Times that she was interested in exploring Kennedy’s ideas and thoughts about addressing chemicals in foods.
She added that she is not concerned about his views on vaccines.
“He wants to be sure that information about them is transparent so people can make up their own minds. He’s not trying to stop other people from having vaccines,” Lummis said. “I’m very comfortable with his position on vaccines.”
Jeff Hutt, a spokesperson for the Kennedy-aligned Make America Healthy Again PAC, told The Epoch Times on Dec. 16 that “most if not all of the senators he meets with in person will feel more comfortable about his vaccine views once they talk with him one-on-one.”
“That is where he is at his best, communicating with people in person sitting right across from each other,” Hutt said. “Once people talk to him one-on-one and hear his beliefs and his reasoning, they see that what they learned about him from the mainstream media and groups like the Democratic National Committee are completely inaccurate.”
Hutt is also the PAC’s outreach director and a former national field director for Kennedy’s presidential campaign.
During the course of his presidential campaign, Kennedy told The Epoch Times, “I would not like me either; the only way you hear about me is through the legacy media.”
A press conference by Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) after meeting with Kennedy on Dec. 17 reflected Tutt’s prediction.
“The more you talk to him, the more you like him,” Mullin said.
“A lot of people don’t have the privilege of knowing him as I know him. As he comes out one meeting at a time, you will see he will win these people over.”
Mullin said that he would vote to confirm Kennedy, who told him he “serves at the will of the president and he’ll be pushing Trump’s policies forward.
“He can articulate what he needs to say and believes,” Mullin said. “He’s passionate about it. Not political. You do not agree with everything, but you will agree with 80 or 90 percent, and that’s a start.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of Heath and Human Services, arrives for a meeting with Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 16, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
At town halls during his presidential campaign, Kennedy encouraged Americans to watch long-form interviews on nonpartisan podcasts before they formed an opinion about him.
Hutt told The Epoch Times that he was glad the time had arrived when senators could sit down with Kennedy without outside influences.
“Let them make up their mind about him by hearing what he has to say instead of what is put out there by sources that are intent at smearing him,” Hutt said. “I think that several senators have never even sat down with him face-to-face.”
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), who is a physician, wrote in a Dec. 17 X post that “Making America healthy is a goal that @RobertKennedyJr and I share. We had a productive discussion on rural health challenges, combatting the chronic disease epidemic, and protecting patients from one-size-fits-all government mandates. I look forward to his confirmation hearing.”
Another physician, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), said he strongly supports many of Kennedy’s goals, including the Making America Healthy Again campaign.
“I look forward to supporting his nomination and helping in the Trump Admin’s mission to build a stronger and healthier America!” Marshall wrote on X after his Dec. 17 meeting with Kennedy.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told The Epoch Times on Dec. 17: “I’ve read some things about him on the internet. Some things on the Internet are true. Some things are not.”
John Kennedy said that “the polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.” He noted that he had not met with the HHS secretary nominee but would be open to a discussion and added that “he has said some deeply weird things.”
Kennedy had more than 20 meetings with senators on this week’s schedule, spokesperson Stefanie Spear told The Epoch Times. Kennedy told reporters he plans to meet with some Democrat senators while on Capitol Hill.
Joseph Lord contributed to this report.
