In the days preceding A central vote on Appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. To become the senior Heath official in America, all eyes were focused on Senator Bill Cassidy. And the central question for the Louisiana republican was Kennedy skepticism towards vaccines.
Cassidy presides over Senate Committee This oversees the Ministry of Health and Social Services. He is also a doctor who is proud of his work To have tens of thousands of children vaccinated against hepatitis BA disease that can cause liver failure, cirrhosis and cancer. In a appointment audience Last month, he told Kennedy that he was afraid that people would die from vaccine preventable diseases “due to policies or attitudes that you bring to the department.”
However, Cassidy finally provided the voting margin necessary to advance the appointment of Kennedy to the full Senate. He said he was influenced by Kennedy's commitments To support the Vaccination schedules Recommended by the centers for Disease Control and Prevention, maintain the systems used to examine new vaccines and monitor their security, keep declarations on the CDC website ensuring the public that Vaccines do not cause autismAnd meet Cassidy “several times a month”, among others.
“I will carefully monitor any effort to unfairly sow the fear of the public of vaccines,” said the senator, who is ready to re -elect in 2026.
Cassidy’s intention to serve as a single man against measles, polio and dozens of other ailments can be sincere. But in reality, he will have little power to enforce the terms of his agreement with Kennedy, experts said.
Kennedy, if confirmed, supervise Over 80,000 workers In the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, among other agencies.
Cassidy, on the other hand, controls only one of the 100 votes in the Senate.
His power to ensure that the potential chief of health and social services would not simply tolerate vaccines but actively promote them was the greatest before the vote of the committee last week, when he had the lever to derail the appointment. Cassidy could still change his mind before the Senate's final vote – a decision that would be welcomed by some medical And Plaid patients Groups – But at least three other Republicans should join him to prevent Kennedy confirmation
He will have even less influence after the installation of Kennedy in the health service, said Kathleen Hall JamiesonDirector of Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.
“Although I appreciate what Cassidy tries to accomplish, his ability to act once the confirmation is limited is limited,” said Jamieson. “Do I expect him to do everything he can?” Yes. Do I think it will be productive with Robert Kennedy given everything we know about him about vaccination? ”.
Dr Georges BenjaminExecutive director of the American Public Health Assn., Was also pessimistic about the prospects of Cassidy to ensure that Kennedy defends his side of the negotiation. He recalled that senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) said that she had Insurance received From Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, they would not overthrow Roe against Wade if they were raised to the Supreme Court.
“You see how it worked,” said Benjamin.
Cassidy refused to draw up his agreement with Kennedy, according to a spokesman for the Senate Committee for Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
Even if Kennedy follows all the articles of the agreement, there are a myriad of other actions that he could take which would be in contradiction with his mind, said Jamieson.
For example, she said, the CDC could publish a warning on its website advising people not to take mRNA vaccines. This scenario is not so eccentric – the general surgeon of Florida has discouraged the public obtaining photos from Booster Covid-19 based on non -scientific concerns about How the mRNA vaccines work. (The same health official too Florida parents advised whose non -vaccinated children frequented a school with an active measles epidemic which they did not necessarily need to keep their children at home during the 21 days recommended.)
Anti-Vaccin information on federal government's websites could spread from afar, as Google research overview tends to draw information on the CDC website, said Jamieson.
If Kennedy or any other person from the Ministry of Health and Social Services take measures undermining vaccine support, Cassidy could flex his authority as a Chairman of the Aid Committee And behave in his threat to call a surveillance hearing.
“There is no secretary of the cabinet who welcomes an appearance before a supervisory committee,” said Dr Peter LuriePresident of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a non -profit organization focused on public health issues.
When Lurie worked in the FDA during the Obama administration, such hearings were dreaded events that required “hours and hours of preparation,” he said.
“They are intimidating,” he said, and government representatives are known to conclude agreements to get out.
With a headquarters to the closely divided finance committee, Cassidy could also threaten to oppose Kennedy spending priorities in future votes, Lurie added.
During his second hearing on the appointment, Kennedy proposed to have a more in -depth discussion with Cassidy on research which is convinced of the dominant scientific and medical community which Vaccines do not cause autism.
“You show me these scientific studies and you and I can meet there”, ” Kennedy said.
Men may be able to use their regular meetings for this purpose, but it is unlikely that it will break the deadlock, said Jamieson.
“Everything Cassidy says will be futile,” she said. Kennedy “can adopt a radical skepticism on anything”.
A more productive use of this time would be to “find common ground” by focusing on means of supporting initiatives such as the National diabetes prevention program and the Health Center program which both improve health care and reduced costs, said Dr Elbert HuangDirector of the Center for Chronic Disease Research and Policy at the University of Chicago.
Dr James KriegerExecutive Director of the Defense Group America of healthy foodssuggested that the two could work together to fill the legal flaw that allows food companies to add new compounds to their products without notifying the FDA. They could also tackle other problems, such as reducing the influence of companies on government health decisions and collaborating with the Federal Trade Commission to restrict junk food advertisements that target children.
“People are talking about this thing for a long time,” said Krieger.
Cassidy has always been clear that he supports Kennedy's attention to preventive health. It remains to be seen if it will be enough to compensate for your vaccine views.
