RFK Jr. confirmation hearing: Live updates and analysis Healthpluser

WASHINGTON — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes his first congressional appearance Wednesday as President Trump’s pick to lead the Health and Human Services Department. The hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, which can be livestreamed here, promises interrogations of his vaccine views, grillings on his business and legal entanglements, and a big focus on chronic illnesses in America. Follow STAT’s live updates below for key moments and analysis.

1:05 p.M.

LEV FACHER

In a testy exchange with Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Kennedy stood by past statements in which he suggested that common antidepressants may be among the culprits for school shootings. 

Kennedy has previously argued that school shootings “really started happening coterminous with the increase of these drugs,” citing Prozac, a common antidepressant brand. 

During the hearing, Kennedy said the potential link “should be studied, along with other potential culprits” like video games and social media, but declined to clarify or retract his prior statements. No evidence exists that suggests antidepressants have played a role in increased school shootings. 

“I know people, including members of my own family, who’ve had a much worse time getting off of SSRIs than they’ve had getting off of heroin,” Kennedy said, a reference to the difficulty that some patients experience when attempting to discontinue use of the medications, known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. 

Amid continued questioning from Smith, Kennedy later claimed that, “SSRIs have a black-box warning — warning of suicidal, homicidal behavior.” 

This is incorrect: While some FDA labels on antidepressants warn of an increased risk of suicidal thinking and behavior among young people, they do not include warnings about homicide. 

While most studies suggest that SSRIs yield at least modest benefits for patients who take them, medical professionals continue to debate the degree and duration of their efficacy.

Kennedy’s skepticism appears to go further. He has long expressed doubts about SSRIs, and has previously appeared to suggest that people who take them require some form of addiction treatment.

During his run for president, Kennedy announced plans for a nationwide system of wellness farms where people fighting addiction could go to recalibrate emotionally, learn new job skills, and connect with nature. He pitched these farms as an option not just for Americans addicted to illicit drugs like fentanyl or cocaine, but also for those taking prescription medications for mental health conditions. 

Smith, who spoke of her own positive experience taking SSRIs for depression, at one point criticized Kennedy for referring to Americans taking mental health medications as “addicts who need to be sent to wellness farms to recover.” 

Smith’s statement was also misleading: While Kennedy has suggested that wellness farms should be available for people who take common, legal medications for depression or anxiety but wish to stop, he has not suggested that they should be compelled to attend. 

“I’m going to create these wellness farms where they can go to get off of illegal drugs, off of opiates, but also legal drugs, off of psychiatric drugs, if they want to,” he said on a podcast. “To get off SSRIs, to get off [benzodiazepines], to get off of Adderall, and to spend some time, as much time as they need, three or four years if they need it, to learn to get re-parented.”

12:55 P.M.

‘Something is poisoning the American people,’ RFK says of food supply

SARAH TODD

RFK Jr. returned to one of his major talking points in an exchange with Republican Sen. Roger Marshall (Kan.): “Something is poisoning the American people, and we know that the primary causes are the changing food supply.”

The problem, the nominee said, is the widespread availability of ultra-processed foods. He compared the dramatically higher number of chemical food additives in U.S. foods compared to Europe. “If you buy McDonald’s French fries in our country, there’s 11 ingredients. By my understanding, in Europe, there’s only three.”

McDonald’s currently lists five French fry ingredients on its U.S. website: potatoes, vegetable oil, dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate, and salt, although the vegetable oil blend also contains “natural beef flavor.” 

In Ireland, the French fries have three ingredients, including a vegetable oil blend, with a note that salt is added after cooking. Kennedy also noted that Kellogg’s Froot Loops cereal in the U.S. contains artificial food dyes, while Canada and Europe have different formulations.

Asked about the impact of his food supply stances on farmers and ranchers, Kennedy said that he wanted to work with the USDA to help more farmers shift to using fewer chemicals as well as prioritizing regenerative and no-till agriculture.

12:35 p.M.

Kennedy commits to finishing guidance to diversify clinical trials

JOHN WILKERSON

After draft guidance on clinical trial diversity was removed from the Food and Drug Administration’s website last week, Kennedy committed to finishing that guidance.

The guidance is required by a 2022 law aimed at ensuring clinical trials enroll participants of all races and ethnicities, especially when those populations are disproportionately impacted by the diseases that the drugs being tested are supposed to treat.

The law’s requirement cannot take effect until it is finalized.

It’s not clear why the draft guidance was yanked from the FDA’s website. Some suggested it might have been removed merely because it contains the word “diversity” and got ensnared in the administration’s effort to purge government websites of all efforts focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion.  

12:17 p.M.

‘ARE YOU SUPPORTIVE OF THESE ONESIES?’

SARAH OWERMOHLE

Sanders grilled RFK Jr. on his vaccine stance by pointing to merchandise sold by Children’s Health Defense, the nonprofit that he chaired until last year.

The senator displayed posters showing onesies for infants sold by the organization that say “Unvaxxed, Unafraid” and “No vax. No problem.” He noted they cost $26 apiece and pressed RFK Jr. on whether he supported their message. 

“Are you supportive of these onesies?” Sanders repeated several times in a contentious exchange. 

RFK Jr. responded that he has nothing to do with the merchandise and that he supports “vaccines and good science.” 

Sanders used the products to underscore his argument that RFK Jr. is profiting off of sowing doubts about vaccine safety. “You say you’re a pro-vaccine … yet your organization is making money selling a child’s product to parents [for] 26 bucks, which casts fundamental doubt on the usefulness of vaccines.”

Sanders also asked RFK Jr. if he would make sure those baby clothes are taken off the market. The nominee replied that he has “no power” over CHD. RFK Jr. took leave from the nonprofit, which he chaired, during his presidential campaign and officially left CHD in December, according to his financial disclosures. 

12:11 p.M.

Sanders asks: Is health care a human right? RFK wavers

SARAH OWERMOHLE

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pointedly asked RFK Jr. if he believes that access to health care is a human right. The nominee gave a noncommittal answer, saying that it is not comparable to freedom of speech, because health care costs money. 

“In health care, if you smoke cigarettes for 20 years and you get cancer, you are now taking from the pool,” he said. 

That gave Sanders an opening to press RFK Jr. on high drug costs and push him to support legislation that would require the U.S. to pay the same, lower prices as other countries. 

RFK Jr. said the government should end the disparity in drug prices but did not commit to supporting Sanders’ legislation. 

11:59 A.M.

Warren launches into RFK Jr.’s potential conflicts of interest as secretary

ISABELLA CUETO AND SARAH OWERMOHLE

After some friendly comments from MAHA ally Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) — during which RFK Jr. pledged “radical transparency” at HHS — Kennedy faced Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Warren prepared nearly 200 questions ahead of this hearing, and jumped into Kennedy’s conflicts of interest and financial ties. 

“You’re making me sound like a shill,” Kennedy said, when Warren mentioned his work in litigation against vaccine makers. 

Kennedy stated in financial disclosures that he would “retain an interest” in some cases brought by law firm Wisner Baum, but would forgo any fees from cases involving the U.S. government, including the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, against which he’s lodged multiple complaints. RFK Jr. was entitled to 10% of the fees awarded in contingency cases he referred to the firm.

The New York Times reported that RFK Jr. could still profit from a lawsuit against Merck over the HPV vaccine Gardasil.

Warren asked him to commit to not take fees from suing drug companies, and he refused. “I am not going to agree to not sue drug companies. Or anybody,” he said, prompting cheers from the audience.

Warren went on to list the many ways Kennedy could influence lawsuits while health secretary. In a particularly heated exchange, Kennedy accused Warren of asking him to not sue drug companies. “No, I am not,” she said emphatically. 

11:55 A.M.

Kennedy says Trump will keep Medicare’s drug price negotiation program

JOHN WILKERSON

The White House is readying an executive order supporting drug price negotiations under the Democratic-passed Inflation Reduction Act, RFK Jr. said. The negotiation program was one of former President Biden’s signature accomplishments, and it was unclear how Trump would approach it.

There is no executive order on drug price negotiation on the White House website. The agency that runs Medicare issued a statement today, saying, “Lowering the cost of prescription drugs for Americans is a top priority of President Trump and his Administration.”

Kennedy said Trump tried to lower drug prices during his first term and he is still for it.

“He has instructed me, and I’ve met with him repeatedly, as though we need lower prices for seniors,” Kennedy said. 

11:32 A.M.

‘Every abortion is a tragedy,’ Kennedy says again

SARAH OWERMOHLE

RFK Jr. has now repeated the line “every abortion is a tragedy,” four times. The latest was in response to Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), who highlighted his history of pro-abortion remarks in an effort to underscore divides between the nominee and staunch conservatives. 

Soon after, another Democrat pushed RFK Jr. on his abortion stance. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) grilled the nominee on emergency abortions, which the Biden administration clarified are covered under federal requirements to provide life-stabilizing emergency care, even in states with abortion bans. 

Asked whether, as an attorney, he would agree that federal law protects a woman’s right to emergency care in those restrictive states, RFK Jr. replied, “I don’t know.” He then expressed confusion about whether the HHS secretary had legal authority in these situations. 

Biden’s HHS secretary, Xavier Becerra, also an attorney and the previous attorney general of California, sued Idaho over the state’s abortion ban, arguing it violated federal emergency care requirements. The Supreme Court last summer sent that lawsuit back to lower courts. The Trump administration could decide to withdraw from the suit. 

11:27 A.M.

Kennedy attacks Medicaid, makes confused statements about the health program

JOHN WILKERSON

Kennedy attacked Medicaid, the health insurance program that covers roughly 80 million Americans, including people with low incomes, older adults, pregnant people, and children. He also made factual errors in discussing the program.

Republicans are expected to target Medicaid for funding cuts this year to help pay for tax cuts.

He said Americans don’t like Medicaid, but that they do like private insurance and Medicare Advantage, which Kennedy is on. Medicare Advantage is the version of the U.S. Medicare program for seniors that is run by private insurers, and largely paid for with federal funds. 

He said Medicaid premiums and deductibles are too high, and the networks are too narrow. Federal law limits how much states can charge in premiums and cost sharing in Medicaid because the Medicaid population is low-income. In general, states cannot charge many low-income enrollees any premiums.

He also repeated the GOP talking point that the program was originally designed for the poorest Americans and criticized Democrats for expanding it to people with higher incomes as part of their efforts to cover more people, which he said is taking away services from the poor. 

“The irony is the poorest are now being robbed,” he said.

Some Republicans are raising the argument that health insurance coverage does not make people healthier, as they work to square RFK Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again movement with efforts to cut Medicaid, as STAT has previously reported.

Kennedy also made some confusing statements about Medicaid and at times seemed to confuse Medicaid with Medicare. He said Medicaid is fully funded by the federal government — it’s funded by states and federal funding. He also said there is no fee for service Medicaid. It’s true that well over half of Medicaid funding goes to private insurers who offer the Medicaid benefit, but there is fee-for-service in Medicaid.

11:11 A.M.

RFK Jr. wavers on mifepristone, underscoring his changing abortion stance

SARAH OWERMOHLE

RFK Jr. told Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) that he would ask the FDA and NIH to review safety issues with the abortion pill mifepristone. While the drug was approved for use in 2000, changes under the Biden administration allowed for patients to receive mifepristone through the mail rather than in a doctor’s office. That change is under attack in federal courts, with anti-abortion advocates arguing it is unsafe. 

The nominee told Lankford that President Trump has not taken a position yet on regulations around mifepristone, but that Trump also made clear “he wants me to look at safety issues.”

He also walked the line of appeasing Lankford and other anti-abortion senators and explaining his evolved stance. RFK Jr. reiterated that he believes every abortion is a tragedy and said he is in lockstep with Trump on his policy priorities, but noted he comes from a family “split on life and choice.”

He added, “We need to welcome diversity in this country, and we need to respect diversity, and we need to respect each other when we have different opinions, and not force our opinions on other people.”

RFK Jr.’s commitment to anti-abortion policies will be key for Lankford and several other conservatives. Former Vice President Mike Pence mounted a campaign to oppose RFK Jr.’s nomination, calling it an “abrupt departure from the pro-life record of our administration.”

Soon after, Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) sought to double down on promises to review mifepristone. RFK Jr. repeated that Trump asked him to study its safety, but that Trump himself has not yet taken a stance on “how to regulate it.”

11:08 A.M.

RFK defends fundraising effort that celebrated HHS freeze

ISABELLA CUETO

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) asked RFK Jr. about an email sent by his presidential campaign this week that leveraged the Department of Health and Human Services’ communications freeze to raise money. “I don’t think my campaign exists anymore,” Kennedy responded. 

The federal freeze wreaked havoc on the nation’s health and science infrastructure, disrupting research and funding allocation, events, and other work, and impeding agencies’ ability to communicate with the public about threats such as influenza and the H5N1 bird flu outbreak. 

The email from Team Kennedy had the subject line, “Trump Freezes Swamp,” and celebrated the communications blackout. 

Based on a subsequent email from Kennedy’s campaign, the call raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. A debt of over $1 million remains, per the latest call for money. The donations would go toward covering what the Kennedy campaign spent on private security, per the email.

RFK Jr.’s campaign sent out another fundraising email during this hearing. Subject line: “This is it.”

11:00 A.M.

sarah owermohle

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) interrogated RFK Jr. on his past comments and published works, particularly the nominee’s suggestion that the coronavirus was genetically engineered and “ethnically targeted.” 

RFK Jr. later apologized for those comments, but also wrote on X that “the U.S. and other governments are developing ethnically targeted bioweapons and that a 2021 study of the COVID-19 virus shows that COVID-19 appears to disproportionately affect certain races.” He pointed to an NIH study about the virus’ impact. An author of the study said RFK Jr. misinterpreted the research, BBC reported.

Under Bennet’s questioning, RFK Jr. again pointed to that study and denied that he said the coronavirus was “deliberately targeted.” He did not answer whether he believes the virus was genetically engineered. 

Asked a follow-up question, about comments that it is “highly likely” that Lyme disease is a militarily engineered bioweapon, RFK Jr. said “I probably did say that.” The bacteria that causes Lyme disease has been around for at least tens of thousands of years.

The senator also raised a tense point for the Trump administration and several anti-abortion Republicans: the future of abortion policy in Trump’s second presidency. Several senators had voiced concerns about RFK Jr.’s previous pro-abortion views and his evolving stance, which Bennet highlighted from the dais. 

“I believe every abortion is a tragedy,” RFK Jr. told the senator, though he did not deny his previous comments that abortion decisions should be left to women. 

10:57 A.M.

RFK promises to help strengthen international HIV/AIDS program PEPFAR

ISABELLA CUETO

Kennedy said he supports and would work to strengthen PEPFAR, the U.S.’s international HIV/AIDS program whose funding was frozen after the Trump administration paused foreign aid last week. 

The program extends HIV treatment to some 20 million people globally, including more than 550,000 children. 

PEPFAR’s status remains unclear. Late last night, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said humanitarian aid, including for medication, would continue for the time being. 

Health officials in the U.S. and abroad expressed grave concern that stopping PEPFAR would imperil the lives of vulnerable people, including children. 

10:45 A.M.

Kennedy vows to uphold access to measles, polio vaccines

ISABELLA CUETO

After defending himself to Wyden, Kennedy said, “I support the measles vaccine, I support the polio vaccine, I will do nothing as HHS secretary that makes it difficult or discourages people taking [it].” 

Kennedy has outlined in his writings and through his nonprofit methods he could use as health secretary to reform oversight of vaccines — some which could alter the national vaccine schedule and affect coverage of those shots. 

One step in that plan would have the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revisit shots reviewed by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices before 2012. Such a review of older vaccines could rope in recommendations for MMR (mumps, measles, rubella), polio, and hepatitis A vaccinations, and the original human papillomavirus vaccine recommendations.

10:32 A.M.

SARAH OWERMOHLE

Ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) swiftly brings up that RFK Jr. said on a podcast in 2023 that no vaccine is “safe and effective.” He also raised a podcast in 2020 where the nominee stated that he would do anything, pay anything, to go back in time and not vaccinate his children.

RFK Jr. argued that his comments doubting the existence of safe and effective vaccines were “a fragment of a statement” that has been “repeatedly debunked.” On the 2023 Lex Fridman podcast, he said some live virus vaccines are safe but he meant to say no vaccine is safe “… for every person,” meaning some people will have adverse reactions. 

“Bringing this up right now is dishonest,” he argued to Wyden. The podcast remarks are among a range of RFK Jr. comments about vaccines, including comparisons of vaccine mandates to fascism, that he has distanced himself from during his nomination.

10:30 A.M.

RFK Jr. on nutrition and chronic disease

SARAH TODD

A friendly first question from Republican Sen. Mike Crapo (Idaho) asked RFK Jr. about the roots of his passion for nutrition-oriented disease prevention. The nominee cited rising rates of chronic disease in the U.S. among children and adults, mentioning diabetes, autism, autoimmune disease, and allergies, as well as the increase in government spending on chronic disease. “We cannot live up to our role as an exemplary nation, as a moral authority around the world, and we’re writing off an entire generation of kids,” RFK Jr. said.

Crapo then asked RFK Jr. to expand on how the government could integrate nutrition-based interventions into Medicare and Medicaid. Kennedy said that federal funding of school lunches and the SNAP program could be vehicles for improving nutrition, specifically in reducing processed foods and sugary drinks. On Medicaid and Medicare, he said, “we need to focus more on outcome-based medicine” and helping people understand the relationship between food and health. He also called for the NIH and FDA to do more research on potential links between food additives and chronic disease.

Echoing his comments on not wanting to take away vaccines despite being a vaccine critic, Kennedy also said he didn’t want to take away food from Americans. “If you love a McDonald’s cheeseburger and Diet Coke, which my boss loves, you should be able to get them,” he said, to mild chuckles in the room. “But you should know the impacts on your health.”

10:29 A.M.

SARAH OWERMOHLE

The nominee sought to address criticisms and concerns about his vaccine stance in his opening remarks. He told senators that “news reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. I am neither, I am pro-safety.” The hearing was briefly interrupted as someone in attendance yelled, “You lie,” after these remarks.

After the person was removed from the room, RFK Jr. continued: “I believe that vaccines play a critical role in health care. All of my kids are vaccinated. I’ve written many books on vaccines,” he said, before saying that asking “uncomfortable questions” about vaccines or food policy does not mean he opposes those fields.

STAT has reported that RFK Jr. authored a vaccine safety plan that could ​​subject recommended vaccines to renewed scrutiny, redirect research, strip legal protections for vaccine makers, and change how vaccines are advertised. The plan could sow doubt about vaccines at a time when rates of childhood immunizations are already slipping.

RFK Jr. also nodded to his earlier attacks on the pharmaceutical industry, which have stoked concerns about his nomination. “Much as I have criticized certain industries and agencies, President Trump and I understand that most of their scientists and experts genuinely care about American health.”

But RFK Jr. largely trained his prepared remarks on high health care costs, highlighting a top concern for voters and tying those high costs to his longtime focus on chronic illnesses. “Why are health care costs so high in the first place? The obvious answer is chronic disease,” he said. 

10:20 A.M.

Allies, MAHA faces in the crowd as hearing begins

ISABELLA CUETO

While he sits alone before the committee members, Kennedy is surrounded by allies in the room today. Behind him is his wife, the actress Cheryl Hines. Kennedy’s daughter, Kick, is also present, along with Kennedy’s son, daughter-in-law, and nephew. 

Directly behind RFK Jr. is his guide to Congress: Ken Nahigian, executive vice president for policy and communications at Nahigian Strategies. Kennedy’s close advisor, Calley Means, is also in the room. 

Food activist Vani Hari, also known as Food Babe, can be seen in one of the front rows. Out in the hall, RFK Jr.’s former colleagues from the vaccine-challenging nonprofit Children’s Health Defense were conducting interviews for the group’s video broadcast.

10:13 A.M.

RFK Jr. draws support, opposition from his family

SARAH OWERMOHLE

The hearing begins under a cloud of opposition from Kennedy family members. Emails between RFK Jr. and his niece, physician Kerry Kennedy Meltzer, show the nominee making false claims about the Covid-19 vaccines, raising doubts about flu shots, and highlighting his longtime, unproven theories that childhood vaccines lead to autism. Meltzer said she shared the emails with STAT in an effort to derail his confirmation. 

Caroline Kennedy, RFK Jr.’s cousin, wrote in a letter to senators on Tuesday that he is a “predator” who is “willing to enrich himself by denying access” to HPV vaccines and other shots.

But he has his supporters among the Kennedy family as well. Former congressman Patrick Kennedy offered a defense of his cousin on Tuesday, arguing that “on addiction policy, I believe he is the leader we need to meet this moment.”

10:07 A.M.

RFK Jr. greeted by loud cheers as hearing begins

JOHN WILKERSON

The Senate Finance Committee moved the hearing to a much larger room, but it’s still crowded, with some people standing at the back. There are ample supporters of RFK Jr., some wearing “Confirm RFK Jr.” hats. There are opponents too, including what appear to be physicians in white coats. 

Outside of the Senate, people leaving Union Station were greeted by a group offering “Make Polio Great Again” T-shirts to anyone who wanted them.  

Kennedy entered from behind the dais where senators sit to loud cheers. 

“We love you Bobby,” someone shouted from the crowd.

6:00 A.M.

What to know before RFK Jr.’s hearing begins

SARAH OWERMOHLE

RFK Jr. will tell lawmakers he is not anti-vaccine or anti-industry, according to his prepared remarks for the Senate Finance Committee first reported by Bloomberg. His efforts to assure the panel come after weeks of concern from Democrats and several Republicans about RFK Jr.’s long history of questioning vaccine safety, criticizing Covid-19 shots, and alleging links between childhood immunizations and rises in autism and chronic illnesses.

Some senators have indicated they plan to dig into RFK Jr.’s vaccine policy plans. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) directed more than a dozen questions on vaccines to the nominee in a letter last week. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) convened a roundtable on vaccine safety that asked experts about the impact eroding confidence could have on public health. 

RFK Jr. has previously laid out steps the health department could take to reassess vaccine recommendations, restructure research, and hold vaccine manufacturers liable for potential injuries. The hearing Wednesday could start to distill his plans for a position overseeing public health agencies, drug regulators, and billions of dollars in medical research. 

The nominee could also face questions about the ongoing confusion and chaos at those agencies over White House-mandated freezes on financial assistance programs, public communications from health agencies, and new research programs.