The republican doctor who could be an obstacle to the confirmation of RFK Jr.

Washington – Senator Bill Cassidy, r -la., Thursday thrown to find out if Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is qualified to be the next leader of the greatest and powerful health agency in the government.

Cassidy, a doctor, has become a voting of swing key in Kennedy’s attempt to be a secretary of health and social services. Cassidy chairs the health, education, work and pensions committee and sits on the finance committee, the two panels that Kennedy testified before this week.

Cassidy had been tightened on his opinions on Kennedy, who has a long history of anti-vaccine activism, in the weeks following President Donald Trump announced his intention to appoint him.

At the end of Thursday’s hearing, Cassidy said he “struggled” from the appointment of Kennedy.

“Your past to undermine confidence in vaccines with unfounded or deceptive arguments concerns me,” said Cassidy. “Can I have confidence that it’s now in the past?” Can data and information modify your opinion or are you only looking for data supporting a predetermined conclusion? »»

The requests one day came after Kennedy sparked a line of questions from Cassidy on Medicaid.

Cassidy’s reserves are a potential complication for Kennedy. As Chairman of the Committee, Cassidy brought the tone of Thursday’s audience, repeatedly handing over the past positions of Kennedy, in particular concerning vaccines. It was sometimes in Kennedy’s statements connecting autism vaccines and has given it several times the possibility of saying that vaccines do not cause the neurological and complicated development condition.

“I can say that I approached it using the preponderance of the evidence to reassure and you approached using selected evidence to launch a doubt,” said Cassidy.

The underlying question, said Cassidy, is whether Kennedy could, as a 71-year-old man, “who spent decades criticizing vaccines and is financially invested to find the fault of the vaccines”, change his Ways “now that he will have the most important position influencing vaccine policy in the United States.”

It was a question to answer Kakedy directly. He sometimes grew up with regard to autism, asking why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had not done more to look at what caused the condition.

“Why don’t we know what causes this epidemic?” Why did the CDC not examine other hypotheses to determine … Why have we had this spectacular increase of 1,000% of this disease which destroys our children? This is probably the biggest problem, ”said Kennedy. “Why don’t we know the response after 30 years of a constant increase in the autism rate?” Why don’t we know the answer to this? We must know the answer.

Scientists and defenders agree that there should be more research on the cause of autism, but they have reported that Kennedy’s residence on a diverse link with vaccines is only the management of precious research on the Only theory that has been excluded.

Doctors have long since known that genes play an important role in autism. Research suggests that the increased incidence of autism is due in part to the changing definition over time, which today encompasses a wide range of capacities. There is also increased awareness and previous screening for the condition.

After Thursday’s hearing, Kennedy would not answer questions from a journalist from NBC News to find out if he had seen enough science to refrain from saying that vaccines cause autism. At the conclusion of the hearing, Kennedy headed for Cassidy, he quietly passed something on her and led her hand.

“You could hear my news during the weekend,” Cassidy told him.

Cassidy’s prudence about Kennedy is important. As a member of the Finance Committee, he will vote on the opportunity to advance the appointment to the complete Senate.

Kennedy can afford to lose the support of only three Senate Republicans on the ground if all the Democrats are united against him. So far, no GOP senator has publicly opposed his appointment.

Cassidy, who was among the few Republicans of the Senate to vote to condemn Trump in the trial of the dismissal in the aftermath of January 6, 2021, Riot at the American Capitol, has already drawn a main potential challenger if he decides to request a re -election in 2026 .

Vaccines were a central element of Cassidy’s political work. In the 1990s, he helped establish a partnership in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which boasted of providing 36,000 children free vaccines against hepatitis B.

As a senator, he introduced Bipartisse bills to improve vaccination rates in pregnant women. He has supported vaccination requirements in public schools.

Cassidy opened the hearing on Thursday with a story on the “worst day of my medical career”, telling her experience of treatment of a young woman with hepatitis B en route to a liver transplant. As he loaded her in an ambulance, said Cassidy, he was struck.

“I thought $ 50 in vaccines could have prevented all of this. And it was an inflection point of my career, and since then, I tried to do everything I can to make sure I never have to speak to another parent of their child dying in reason for a disease practiced vaccination. »»

When Cassidy asked Kennedy if he would unequivocally reassure mothers that measles and hepatitis B vaccines would not cause autism, Kennedy said that he saw support data, he would go beyond comfort.

“Not only will I do this, but I will apologize for all the statements that have misleaded people differently,” said Kennedy. “I just want to walk you that I will never stand on a point if someone shows me data that says I’m wrong.”

Kennedy at some point replied that he saw recent research undermining the idea that there was no link between autism and vaccines.

Cassidy took an interrogative break and seemed to seek the study while Senator Bernie Sanders, I-VT., Took thanks.

“I examined the article,” Cassidy said on his return. “He seems to have some problems.”

Cassidy closed Thursday’s hearing by imploring Kennedy to distant herself more from her comments spent on vaccines.

“Dude, if you get out of the unequivocal vaccines are safe, that does not cause autism, it would have an incredible impact,” said Cassidy. “It’s your power. So what’s going to be? Will the credibility be used to support many articles, or will it use the credibility for Saper? »»

“I was able to understand this for my vote,” said Cassidy. He said he wanted to promote Trump’s agenda, but that Kennedy’s so -called Kennedy’s false vaccination will throw an embarrassing shadow on the heritage of Trump’s second mandate.