Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy acted as the deciding vote back in February to confirm Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., as Health and Human Services Secretary. A long-time physician, Cassidy gave a speech on the Senate floor to explain his vote and reassure the many, many people who apparently got in touch with him to express various concerns about putting an anti-vax gator-skin handbag in charge of the country’s vaccine infrastructure.
“Mr. Kennedy and the administration committed that he and I will have an unprecedently [sic] close collaborative working relationship if he is confirmed. We will meet or speak multiple times a month,” Cassidy said, before listing some of the specific commitments he extracted from the science-denying puddle of ooze mashed inside an expensive suit. Among them: “If confirmed, he will maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without changes.”
Alas! Here we are barely four months later, and RFK took to the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal, for some reason, to announce that he has fired all members of that very committee — a new step in his ongoing assault on the very concept of expert scientific advice. “Vaccines have become a divisive issue in American politics,” he begins, in a blatant attempt to murder irony entirely. The ACIP is the body that determines the CDC immunization schedule, a thing that prevents countless childhood diseases and deaths. Kennedy claims the country needs a reset to restore public trust, but, well, no it doesn’t. Experts and relevant professional societies were, obviously, appalled.
“The American Academy of Pediatrics is deeply troubled and alarmed by Secretary Kennedy’s mass firing of all 17 experts on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices,” the group said in a statement on Monday. “We are witnessing an escalating effort by the Administration to silence independent medical expertise and stoke distrust in lifesaving vaccines…. This move undermines the trust pediatricians have built over decades with our patients and leaves us without critical scientific expertise we rely on.”
Meanwhile, Senator Cassidy seemed content with some new promises extracted from the HHS Secretary. “Of course, now the fear is that the ACIP will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion,” he posted on X. “I’ve just spoken with Secretary Kennedy, and I’ll continue to talk with him to ensure this is not the case.”
Great! I’m glad no literally-just-happened track record exists that might suggest he will blithely tell you one thing and then do another. ACIP is scheduled to meet later in June, and as of now that meeting is supposedly still going forward, though with new faces. Which specific faces, of course, will make a big difference as to just how badly this goes for the general public.
Looking back at Cassidy’s speech in February, the question is now which other promises are next to be broken. For example: “CDC will not remove statements on their website pointing out that vaccines do not cause autism,” Cassidy insisted. So far, so good — but the Senator probably shouldn’t hold out hope that he’s getting his wallet back any time soon.
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