Several Senate Republicans pressed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his management of the department, particularly his COVID-19 policy, during an explosive Thursday hearing on Capitol Hill.
The hearing, which lasted more than three hours, covered a wide range of issues but mainly focused on vaccine policy under Kennedy, who has been criticized for limiting access to vaccines by Democrats, Republicans, and nongovernment public health organizations.
Sens Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Barrasso (R-WY), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) joined several Democrats who questioned Kennedy about his support for COVID-19 vaccines following a tumultuous week at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month that culminated in the termination of the director, Susan Monarez.
The hearing was scheduled prior to Monarez’s termination, but it was only announced after it came to light that Monarez clashed with the Food and Drug Administration’s action, announced by Kennedy on X, to limit COVID-19 vaccine approvals to those with comorbidities that put them at risk for severe disease.
Cassidy, Barrasso, and Tillis each also questioned Kennedy on whether he believed that President Donald Trump deserved a Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed, which fast-tracked mRNA COVID-19 vaccines during the height of the pandemic, during his first term.
Although Kennedy said Trump does deserve the Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed, Cassidy said Kennedy engaged in litigation against the COVID-19 vaccines over severe adverse reactions during the Biden administration.
“The reason that Operation Warp Speed was genius is it’s something nobody had ever done,” Kennedy said. “I don’t think any president but President Trump could do it. It got the vaccine to market that was perfectly matched to the virus at that time, when it was badly needed because there was low natural immunity and/or people getting very badly injured by COVID.”
Kennedy defended his litigation against the COVID-19 vaccines after the Biden administration instituted vaccine mandates.
Tillis asked Kennedy for a written “definitive statement” on where he stands on the efficacy of Operation Warp Speed and the cancellation of $500 million in mRNA research grants for developing new vaccines for respiratory diseases.
“I can’t conclude from the discussion today where you are on Warp Speed, so I would like a definitive statement on exactly where you are,” Tillis said. “Was it good? Was it bad? Were there things that worked? Were there things that didn’t work? I can’t discern that from what you said here. I, for one, think it was a signature accomplishment of President Trump in the mRNA platform.”
Tillis also criticized Kennedy for firing Monarez after only working with her for 29 days following her Senate confirmation hearing.
“I don’t see how you go over four weeks from [calling Monarez] ‘a public health expert with unimpeachable scientific credentials, a long time champion of [make America healthy again] values, caring and compassion, and brilliant microbiologist,’ and then fire her four weeks later,” Tillis said.
‘Increasingly concerned’ about vaccine access
Barrasso, a physician by training, said he has grown “increasingly concerned” since Kennedy was confirmed to lead HHS, particularly in light of the measles outbreak in West Texas, which started in an undervaccinated Mennonite community.
The Wyoming senator also said he was concerned about the upcoming decisions from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which is slated to meet later this month.
This summer, Kennedy fired the 17 existing members of the ACIP and replaced them with members who are more aligned with his skepticism of the status quo regarding vaccine policy, particularly the number of immunizations children are required to receive to enter public school.
The agenda for the ACIP’s September meeting includes a review of the vaccines on the childhood schedule. Monarez and the handful of CDC leaders who resigned last week have expressed fear that the ACIP board will vote to remove several vaccines from the childhood schedule.
“I’ve been hearing from many of my medical colleagues, people I know from medical school residency and when I practice medicine in Wyoming, and their real concerns that safe, proven vaccines like measles and hepatitis B and others could be in jeopardy, and that would put Americans at risk and reverse decades of progress,” Barrasso said.
Cassidy similarly said multiple physician colleagues have contacted him expressing concern and confusion regarding the decision to limit FDA approvals for COVID-19 vaccines to those with comorbidities, as FDA approval and CDC recommendations are critical for insurance coverage in most states.
“Effectively, we’re denying people vaccines,” Cassidy said, a point that multiple Democrats echoed.
COVID-19 death data
Much of the questioning on COVID-19 vaccines revolved around the number of people who died during the pandemic and the estimated 1 million deaths that mRNA vaccines prevented.
When pressed by Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) pressed Kennedy on the number of people who died from COVID-19, Kennedy said it was impossible to know because of the corruption of data under the Biden administration.
“I don’t think anybody knows that, because there was so much data chaos coming out of the CDC,” Kennedy said.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) agreed with Kennedy that data on the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine and the number of deaths due to COVID-19 are not trustworthy because of a lack of credibility in federal public health agencies.
“Nobody knows how many COVID deaths there were because the information was completely corrupted,” Johnson said. “Nobody knows how many lives were saved.”
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), also a physician who was practicing during the height of the pandemic, clarified later that there was significant confusion during the pandemic as to whether patients died while infected with COVID-19 or because of their COVID-19 infection.
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“When I was out there practicing, doing volunteer work, I was so confused myself on the numbers, people dying with COVID versus from COVID,” Marshall said. “And I still don’t think we have that message.”
Marshall said that “two things can be true,” referring to Operation Warp Speed as an achievement but also recognizing there were deep flaws in the public health system at the same time.
