from the the-beginning dept
Since before RFK Jr. was even confirmed into his position as the head of HHS and American health, I have been pleading for someone to step in and correct this obvious mistake. Everything about his first half a year or so in the role has been a disaster. Layoffs and resignations at HHS agencies have become the norm. Anti-vaxxer propaganda now flows directly from the government agencies that are supposed to be keeping us healthy. We endured the largest measles outbreak in decades. Even Kennedy’s stated views that have bipartisan support, such as his desire to reduce our consumption of processed foods, turned out to be bullshit. The CDC campus in Atlanta was shot up over Kennedy’s vaccine misinformation, which he then repeated in the wake of the shooting.
And as all of this went on, Republicans in Congress sat back with folded arms, watching it all play out, engendering this shit show with their tacit approval.
That may just be starting to change a bit. Kennedy is set to testify before Congress as I write this, with Bill Cassidy, in particular, being looked to lob some pointed questions about the chaos at HHS, most recently when it comes to the firing of the agency’s director and the resignation of several top health officials. Part of the reason there is such focus on Cassidy is that he’s a doctor and he was something of a reluctant pivotal vote in Kennedy’s confirmation to HHS.
Thursday’s hearing before the Senate Finance Committee is not only a key test for Kennedy, but for Cassidy, the pivotal vote behind his confirmation. (In addition to chairing the health committee, which oversees the CDC, Cassidy is also a member of the Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over HHS.) This week, Cassidy was mum about what he planned to ask Kennedy on Thursday.
“I haven’t decided that,” he told reporters Tuesday. “But I want to carefully frame the question. The issue is about children’s health, and there’s rumors, allegations, that children’s health, which is at issue here, might be endangered by some of the decisions that are purported to be made.”
Asked about the allegations from the CDC officials who resigned last week that Kennedy was putting his political agenda over science, Cassidy said: “So shouldn’t we find that out? You don’t presuppose they’re right, you don’t presuppose they’re wrong. You go out in a way in which both sides get a chance to say, and then we can judge. And so that’s my hope.”
That may seem like fairly timid language, but it passes for vociferous concerns when it comes to GOP members speaking out about this particular administration. And Cassidy is generally pretty measured in his statements to the press about, well, everything. He’s conservative, to be sure, but he’s not some blind MAGA dead-ender. He has also requested that the next ACIP meeting, where immunization schedules will be discussed, be postponed.
The other reason Cassidy’s questioning during this hearing is being watched so closely is due to the regard his fellow GOP congress members have for him on this subject.
Cassidy’s skepticism is important not just because of his health chairmanship, but because he’s trusted on the issue by fellow Republicans on the Finance Committee.
“I’m interested to hear more about it,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is also juggling Senate duties with a contested re-election primary for 2026. “And my sort of north star is Senator Cassidy, and so I’ll be interested in what he has to say.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who sits on the health committee, backed Cassidy’s call for oversight and questioned Kennedy’s decision-making on public health matters.
“We want to have this based on science,” she said. “Right now, it just doesn’t feel that way.”
If you squint just right, you can start to see something like critical mass beginning to form against Kennedy.
And beginning really is the right word. Whatever happens in this hearing, including when it comes to Cassidy’s performance, today will not be the end of Kennedy’s vulgar appointment at HHS. But it could be the beginning of that end, if this hearing is taken seriously.
