GOP senator grills RFK Jr. on abortion, measles, CDC leadership at health hearing
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was taken to task by a bipartisan Senate panel Wednesday afternoon over his leadership of the agency — a tenure that has included measles outbreaks and sweeping budget and personnel cuts.
Some of that grilling came from Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Bill Cassidy, R-La., a physician who has been publicly critical of Kennedy over his attempts to roll back federal vaccine policy. Cassidy cast the deciding vote to confirm Kennedy last February, but only after he received specific promises from Kennedy around vaccines — some of which he has since broken.
Despite Cassidy’s vote, the pair’s relationship has since deteriorated due to their disagreements over vaccines. The tension has spilled into Cassidy’s re-election race: A group run by one of Kennedy’s closest friends, the book publisher Tony Lyons, has committed to spend $1 million to back Cassidy’s primary challenger, Rep. Julia Letlow, who also has been endorsed by Trump.
Those tensions were on full display Wednesday, when Cassidy grilled Kennedy on federal health policy around abortion pills, measles, and CDC leadership.
Cassidy kicked off his opening statement by addressing affordability — a concept that Republicans have struggled to gain ground on — calling on the government to lower the cost of drugs and health insurance.
https://www.ms.now/news/rfk-jr-senate-help-committee-hearing
I'm no fan of Cassidy, but at least he speaks from a position of knowledge, unlike Junior