The final round of committee hearings for Kennedy’s bid to be HHS Secretary was contentious from the start.

If you come out unequivocally — ‘vaccines are safe, it does not cause autism’ that would have an incredible impact,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) told the HHS nominee.

As Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced skeptical senators Thursday in the second day of his confirmation hearing to lead the department of Health and Human Services, Sen. Bill Cassidy confronted Kennedy about vaccines.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced a bipartisan grilling Thursday in his second day of confirmation hearings to be President Donald Trump’s secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services. From vaccine skepticism and transgender medicine to Medicare and healthcare diversity policies,

RFK Jr.'s confirmation hearings continue today as he appears before a second Senate committee. Follow STAT's live updates.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President Trump's nominee to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services testifies during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing for his pending confirmation on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Robert F. Kennedy's nomination will put Republican lawmakers' loyalty to the test, as the former Democrat holds a range of unorthodox positions that could alienate both conservatives and liberals.

Follow along today for ongoing coverage of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s second Senate confirmation hearing. | Follow along today for ongoing coverage of Robert F Kennedy Jr.'s second Senate confirmation hearing.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will emphasize that he is not “anti-vaccine” when he appears Wednesday in Congress at the first of two straight days of Senate confirmation hearings.

In a confirmation hearing for his nomination to head the $1.7 trillion Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confused two of the massive healthcare programs he would be overseeing as secretary — Medicare and Medicaid — and insisted he was not anti-vaccine.

If confirmed as health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would oversee the Food and Drug Administration and other agencies that issue key decisions for drug companies.

In a contentious confirmation hearing to become the nation’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. struggled to answer questions