Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the new Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee chair, did not immediately endorse Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Trump’s pick to be Health and Human Services secretary, after meeting with him Wednesday.
Cassidy wrote on the social media site X that he and Kennedy had a “frank conversation” and spoke about vaccines “at length.”
After the meeting, Cassidy briefly told reporters they spoke about “every permutation of vaccines” but declined to elaborate further after the nearly hourlong meeting.
Cassidy, a physician, said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday” that he thinks Kennedy is “wrong” about vaccines, but noted there are areas he and Kennedy agree on, like eliminating ultra-processed foods.
Kennedy has a long history of advocating against vaccines and has promoted the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism.
Kennedy has said he doesn’t want to take vaccines away from anyone and just wants to make more safety and efficacy data available to the public.
Kennedy is on Capitol Hill this week for his second round of meetings with senators, including some Democrats on the HELP Committee, which has jurisdiction over HHS.
Cassidy’s comments were much more tepid compared to some of the enthusiastic responses Kennedy received from other Senate Republicans last month, including from staunch conservatives who are both close Trump allies and most likely to object to Kennedy’s previous pro-abortion stance.
But after meeting with the former Democratic presidential candidate, they expressed no reservations.
Kennedy said only that their meeting was “good.”
Cassidy is one of several GOP lawmakers being targeted by advocacy groups opposed to Kennedy. If every Democrat opposes him, Kennedy can only afford to lose three GOP votes.
Aside from Cassidy, Kennedy on Wednesday also met with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the HELP Committee ranking member, and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.).
Sanders and Hassan sit on the Senate Finance Committee. The HELP Committee will hold a hearing for Kennedy, but the actual confirmation hearing and vote will occur in the Finance Committee.
The hearing is likely to be scheduled soon.
Leaving the meeting with Sanders, Kennedy said he “couldn’t say” whether Sanders would support him.
When asked if he and Sanders could work together to cut prescription drug prices, Kennedy said, “I think everyone wants to cut prescription drug prices.”
