A pivotal senator says he extracted vaccine concessions from RFK Jr. How will that play out?

In the days starring up to a pivotal vote connected Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to go America’s apical heath official, each eyes were focused connected Sen. Bill Cassidy. And the pivotal contented for the Louisiana Republican was Kennedy’s skepticism toward vaccines.

Cassidy chairs the Senate committee that oversees the Department of Health and Human Services. He is besides a doc who is proud of his work to get tens of thousands of children vaccinated against hepatitis B, a illness that tin pb to liver failure, cirrhosis and cancer. In a nomination hearing past month, helium told Kennedy helium was acrophobic radical would dice of vaccine-preventable diseases “because of policies oregon attitudes that you bring to the department.”

Yet Cassidy yet provided the one-vote borderline needed to beforehand Kennedy’s information to the afloat Senate. He said helium was swayed by Kennedy’s commitments to enactment the immunization schedules recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, support systems utilized to vet caller vaccines and show their safety, sphere statements connected the CDC website assuring the nationalist that vaccines don’t origin autism, and conscionable with Cassidy “multiple times a month,” among different things.

“I volition ticker cautiously for immoderate effort to wrongfully sow nationalist fearfulness astir vaccines,” said the senator, who is up for reelection successful 2026.

Cassidy’s intent to service arsenic a one-man bulwark against measles, polio and dozens of different ailments whitethorn beryllium sincere. But successful reality, helium volition person small powerfulness to enforce the presumption of his statement with Kennedy, experts said.

Kennedy, if confirmed, volition oversee more than 80,000 workers successful the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, among different agencies.

Cassidy, connected the different hand, controls conscionable 1 of the 100 votes successful the Senate.

His powerfulness to guarantee that the would-be Health and Human Services person would not simply tolerate vaccines but actively beforehand them was top earlier past week’s committee vote, erstwhile helium had the leverage to derail the nomination. Cassidy could inactive alteration his caput earlier the last Senate ballot — a determination that would beryllium welcomed by immoderate medical and patient advocacy groups — but astatine slightest 3 different Republicans would person to articulation him to forestall Kennedy’s confirmation

He volition person adjacent little power aft Kennedy is installed astatine the wellness department, said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, manager of the Annenberg Public Policy Center astatine the University of Pennsylvania.

“While I admit what Cassidy is trying to accomplish, his capableness to enactment erstwhile the confirmation goes done is limited,” Jamieson said. “Do I expect helium volition bash everything helium can? Yes. Do I deliberation it’s going to beryllium productive with Robert Kennedy fixed everything we cognize astir him with respect to vaccination? No.”

Dr. Georges Benjamin, enforcement manager of the American Public Health Assn., was besides pessimistic astir Cassidy’s prospects for making definite Kennedy upholds his broadside of the bargain. He recalled that Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she had received assurances from Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh that they wouldn’t overturn Roe vs. Wade if they were elevated to the Supreme Court.

“You spot however that worked out,” Benjamin said.

Cassidy declined to elaborate connected his statement with Kennedy, according to a spokesperson for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Even if Kennedy follows done with each of the items successful the deal, determination are myriad different actions helium could instrumentality that would beryllium astatine likelihood with its spirit, Jamieson said.

For instance, she said, the CDC could station a informing connected its website advising radical not to instrumentality mRNA vaccines. That script is not truthful far-fetched — Florida’s surgeon wide has discouraged the public from getting COVID-19 booster shots based connected unscientific concerns astir how mRNA vaccines work. (The aforesaid wellness authoritative besides advised Florida parents whose unvaccinated children attended a schoolhouse with an progressive measles outbreak that they didn’t needfully request to support their kids astatine location for the recommended 21 days.)

Anti-vaccine accusation connected national authorities websites could dispersed acold and wide since the overview results for Google searches thin to gully connected accusation from the CDC website, Jamieson said.

Should Kennedy oregon anyone other astatine the Department of Health and Human Services instrumentality steps that undermine enactment for vaccines, Cassidy could flex his authorization arsenic the HELP Committee chairman and marque bully connected his menace to telephone an oversight hearing.

“There’s nary furniture caput who welcomes an quality earlier an oversight committee,” said Dr. Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science successful the Public Interest, a nonprofit focused connected nationalist wellness issues.

When Lurie worked successful the FDA during the Obama administration, specified hearings were dreaded events that required “hours and hours” of preparation, helium said.

“They’re intimidating,” helium said, and authorities officials person been known to marque deals to get retired of them.

With a spot connected the intimately divided Finance Committee, Cassidy could besides endanger to reason Kennedy’s spending priorities successful aboriginal votes, Lurie added.

During his 2nd information hearing, Kennedy offered to person a deeper treatment with Cassidy astir the probe that’s convinced the mainstream technological and aesculapian assemblage that vaccines bash not origin autism.

“You amusement maine those technological studies and you and I tin conscionable astir it,” Kennedy said.

It’s imaginable the men could usage their regular get-togethers for this purpose, but it’s improbable to interruption the impasse, Jamieson said.

“Anything Cassidy says is going to beryllium futile,” she said. Kennedy “can follow extremist skepticism astir anything.”

A much productive usage of that clip would beryllium to “find communal ground” by focusing connected ways to enactment initiatives similar the National Diabetes Prevention Program and the Health Center Program that some amended healthcare and little costs, said Dr. Elbert Huang, manager of the Center for Chronic Disease Research and Policy astatine the University of Chicago.

Dr. James Krieger, enforcement manager of the advocacy radical Healthy Food America, suggested the 2 could enactment unneurotic to adjacent the ineligible loophole that allows nutrient companies to adhd caller compounds to their products without notifying the FDA. They could besides tackle different problems, similar reducing firm power connected authorities wellness decisions and collaborating with the Federal Trade Commission to restrict junk nutrient ads that people children.

“People person been talking astir this worldly for a agelong time,” Krieger said.

Cassidy has been wide each on that helium supports Kennedy’s absorption connected preventive health. Whether that volition beryllium capable to marque up for his vaccine views remains to beryllium seen.