R obert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s pick to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), was grilled by Democratic senators during his confirmation hearing on Jan. 29 and Jan. 30, who confronted him with conspiratorial and conflicting statements he has made about COVID-19.

Kennedy repeatedly refused to acknowledge scientific consensus that childhood vaccines don’t cause autism and that COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives

Kennedy Jr. is revising his ethics agreement to divest his interest in litigation against an HPV vaccine maker and directing the stake to his adult son, The New York Times reported Friday, citing a written response to questions from senators who are weighing his confirmation as Health and Human Services secretary.

Meltzer, niece to the HHS nominee and a physician, shared the exchanges with STAT in an effort to stop her uncle’s confirmation.

Aside from Cassidy, Republicans on the health committee remained friendly to Kennedy. Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who said his two sons wanted to vote for Kennedy in the presidential election, told the hearing that his granddaughter, due in the coming weeks, would not “be a pincushion” when it came to vaccines.

At a Senate confirmation hearing for RFK Jr. on Wednesday, there was discussion of abortion, Medicaid, and Covid-19. There was also discussion of onesies.

Bernie Sanders showed off images of baby onesies sold by the Children's Health Defense, a non-profit that Kennedy started that has pushed policies to end vaccine mandates. The clothing contained messages such as "no vax,

The hearings were packed to capacity with protesters and fans, while the spillover crowd hung out in hallways and overflow rooms.