In the days before a decisive coordination on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination to become America's Top -Heath official, all eyes were directed to Sen. Bill Cassidy. And the decisive problem for the Republican in Louisiana was Kennedy's skepticism about vaccines.
Cassidy Chairs the Senate committee This monitors the Ministry of Health and Human Services. He is also a doctor who is Proud of his work Tens of thousands of children in the vaccines against Hepatitis BAn illness that can lead to liver failure, cirrhosis and cancer. In A Nomination hearing Last month he said Kennedy that he was afraid that people would die from vaccination disorders, “due to guidelines or attitudes that bring them to the department”.
However, Cassidy ultimately provided the one-voted vote lead, which had promoted Kennedy's nomination into the full Senate. He said he was it influenced by Kennedy's obligations To support them Immunization plans Recommended by the centers for the control and prevention of diseases, they maintain systems to check new vaccines and monitor their security, and receive explanations on the CDC website to insure the public Vaccines do not cause autismAnd meet, among other things, with Cassidy “several times a month”.
“I will carefully observe efforts to mistake public fear of vaccines,” said the Senator, who is for re -election in 2026.
Cassidy's intention to be sincerely as a one-man bulwark against measles, polio and dozens of other complaints. In reality, however, he will have little authority to enforce the conditions of his agreement with Kennedy, experts said.
Kennedy is monitored if confirmed More than 80,000 workers In the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Cassidy, on the other hand, only controls one of the 100 votes in the Senate.
His authority to ensure that the potential leader for health and human services not only tolerated vaccines, but was actively promoting them, was greatest before coordinating the past week when he had the lever to derail the nomination. Cassidy could still change his opinion before the Senate's final coordination – a step that is welcomed by some medical And Patient representative Groups – but at least three other Republicans would have to join him to prevent Kennedy's confirmation
He will have less influence after Kennedy has been installed in the health department, said said Kathleen Hall JamiesonDirector of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.
“Although I guess what Cassidy is trying to achieve, his ability to act is as soon as the confirmation goes through,” said Jamieson. “Do you expect to do everything he can? Yes. Do I think that it will be productive with Robert Kennedy if you know everything about him in relation to vaccination? NO.”
Dr. Georges BenjaminExecutive Director of the American Public Health Assn. He remembered Sen. Susan Collins (R-Main) said she did it Receive assurances Von Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh that they would not tip over against Wade if they were raised to the Supreme Court.
“You see how it worked,” said Benjamin.
Cassidy rejected his agreement with Kennedy, according to a spokesman for the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pension of the Senate, Senate Health, the Labor and Pension.
Even if Kennedy carries out all objects in the deal, there are countless other actions that he could take that would contradict his spirit, said Jamieson.
For example, she said, the CDC could publish a warning on its website that advises people to make mRNA vaccines. This scenario is not that far-fetched florida general of the surgeon discouraged the public From Covid-19-Booster recordings based on unscientific concerns regarding How mRNA vaccines work. (The same health officer too advised Florida parents whose unvaccinated children attended a school with an active measles outbreak, which they did not necessarily have to keep at home for the recommended 21 days.)
Information about the Federal Government's websites could spread far and wide, as the overview results for Google search queries tend to information on information from the CDC website, said Jamieson.
Should Kennedy or others take steps at the Department of Health and Human Services that undermine the support of vaccines, Cassidy could move his authority Chairman of the Help Committee And make his threat to call a supervisory hearing.
“There is no cabinet secretary who welcomes an appearance in front of a supervisory committee,” said Dr. Peter LuriePresident of the Center for Science in the public interest, a non -profit organization that focuses on questions of public health.
When Lurie worked in the FDA during the Obama government, such hearings were feared events that required “hours and hours” of the preparation, he said.
“They are intimidating,” he said, and government officials are known to do business in order to get out of them.
With a seat in the closely divided financial committee, Cassidy could also threaten Kennedy's expenditure priorities in future votes, added Lurie.
During his second nomination hearing, Kennedy offered to have a deeper discussion with Cassidy about research that the mainstream and medical community convinced that that Vaccines do not cause autism.
“They show me these scientific studies and they and I can meet about it.” Said Kennedy.
It is possible that the men could use their regular gatherings for this purpose, but it is unlikely that it can break the dead end, said Jamieson.
“Everything Cassidy says will be in vain,” she said. Kennedy “can” take over radical skepticism about anything “.
A more productive use of this time would be to find “similarities” by focusing on opportunities to support initiatives such as those National diabetes prevention program and the Health center program That both health care and lower costs improve, said, said Dr. Elbert HuangDirector of the Center for Chronic Disease Research and Policy at the University of Chicago.
Dr. James KriegerExecutive Director of Advocacy Group Healthy food Americasuggested that the two could work together to close the legal gap with the food company without adding new connections without notifying the FDA. You could also tackle other problems, e.g. B. the reduction of the influence of companies on state health decisions and the cooperation with the Federal Trade Commission to restrict junk food ads that are aimed at children.
“People talked about this stuff for a long time,” said Krieger.
Cassidy was always clear that he supports Kennedy's focus on preventive health. It remains to be seen whether this will be enough to compensate for its vaccine views.