WASHINGTON – US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr told lawmakers on April 21 that he was not under instructions from the White House to stop publicly bringing up vaccines or other controversial positions ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Mr Kennedy, appearing in his fourth Congressional hearing this week, again highlighted nutrition and food safety in his opening statement but omitted mention of his efforts to overhaul nationwide vaccination policy or his work to identify the causes of autism.
“Yes or no. Did Susie Wiles, or anyone in the White House instruct you or suggest that you stop talking about your controversial vaccine scepticism,” asked Representative Marc Veasey, referring to President Donald Trump’s chief of staff.
Mr Kennedy’s response was a curt “no.”
Mr Veasey, a Democrat from Texas, asked if Mr Kennedy had seen a Trump administration internal memo referencing polling showing his anti-vaccine rhetoric was unpopular with voters.
Mr Kennedy said he had not.
Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier this month that the White House recently urged health officials to redirect policy discussions towards more popular topics, as Mr Trump and his Republican Party seek to shore up support for their slim majorities in Congress.
Mr Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist, faced a setback in March, when a court ruling derailed key elements of his efforts to rewrite US vaccine policy and revamp a CDC advisory panel on immunisations.
Separately, close Kennedy ally and White House food policy adviser Calley Means also denied on April 21 that the secretary and his allies have been instructed to stop bringing up vaccines.
“I think that these are just ongoing conversations about where to prioritize on what’s leading to a problem in American healthcare,” Mr Means said during an appearance at the Politico Health Care Summit in Washington. “We’re not apologising for what’s happened on vaccines.”
Mr Kennedy also said on April 21 that he had vetted Ms Erica Schwartz’s position on vaccines before she was nominated to run the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Mr Kennedy, testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, said he had not spoken to Mr Trump directly before the president nominated Ms Schwartz.
Mr Trump said on April 16 he would nominate Ms Schwartz to be the next CDC director following multiple leadership shakeups at the health agency. She had served as deputy surgeon general during the Covid-19 pandemic in Mr Trump’s first administration.
Her nomination represents a far more traditional pick, as the White House seeks to focus on more popular issues such as lowering drug prices and food safety, rather than Mr Kennedy’s controversial vaccine policies, with control of Congress up for grabs in November.
Mr Kennedy said on April 21 that his agency had sent Ms Schwartz’s name up to the White House.
He also said he is reforming the US Preventive Services Task Force, the advisory panel that decides access to free preventive healthcare that last met over a year ago. His Department of Health and Human Services will be putting a notification in the Federal Register this week soliciting new members of the task force, Mr Kennedy said. REUTERS
