Cracks Form Around Letting RFK ‘Go Wild’

January 15, 2025

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Amid reports that the adults in Donald Trump’s room may be convincing him to put some guardrails in place on his HHS nominee — whom he vowed to let “go wild on health” — there are also reportedly some cracks forming around the nominee himself within Republican circles.

But it’s not clear if the anti-RFK contingent of Trump allies is yet strong enough to actually make a dent, let alone imperil, RFK Jr.’s ability to be confirmed as HHS secretary.

Earlier this month, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), an actual medical doctor and the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which would be responsible for holding an RFK Jr. confirmation hearing, began making noises about his reluctance to hand over HHS to an anti-vaxxer like RFK. He told Fox News that Kennedy is flat “wrong” on vaccinations and his belief that they’re dangerous and cause autism in America’s youth.

“I will meet with him this coming week,” he said on Fox News Sunday on Jan. 5. “I look forward to the interview. I agree with him on some things and disagree on others. The food safety, I think the ultra-processed food is a problem.”

“Vaccinations, he’s wrong on, and so I just look forward to having a good dialogue with him on that,” Cassidy said.

After meeting with Kennedy on the Hill, Cassidy did not exactly change his tune. Per Politico Playbook:

Yesterday, Sen. BILL CASSIDY (R-La.) — who in addition to chairing the HELP Committee is a medical doctor — met with Kennedy and offered an unenthusiastic-but-diplomatic statement, saying he “had a frank conversation” and spoke with Kennedy “about vaccines at length.”

On Wednesday, more Republican opposition to RFK’s nomination arose, this time due to his hard-to-pin-down stance on abortion, which has ranged from supporting efforts to pass federal Roe protections to claiming he supported non-existent “full-term” abortions to agreeing to back any Republican effort to pass federal abortion restrictions in Congress.

A group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, Advancing American Freedom, put out a letter Wednesday calling on Republican senators to oppose RFK’s nomination over his abortion positions, calling them “completely out of step with the strong, pro-life record of the first Trump Administration.” The letter was first reported by the conservative Daily Wire.

“While RFK Jr. has made certain overtures to pro-life leaders that he would be mindful of their concerns at HHS,” the AAF said in their letter, “there is little reason for confidence at this time.”

The letter criticized Kennedy as being “pro-abortion,” citing his past support for abortions later in pregnancy. This position is “completely out of step with the strong, pro-life record of the first Trump Administration,” the group wrote.

“Whatever the merits of RFK Jr’s Make America Healthy Again initiative — indeed, whatever other qualities a nominee might possess — an HHS Secretary must have a firm commitment to protect unborn children, or else bend under the pressure and pushback surrounding these daily, critical decisions,” AAF President Tim Chapman and Board Chairman Marc Short, Pence’s former chief of staff, wrote in a letter to senators.

“While RFK Jr. has made certain overtures to pro-life leaders that he would be mindful of their concerns at HHS, there is little reason for confidence at this time,” they wrote.

As head of HHS, Kennedy would have some jurisdiction over the Trump administration’s abortion maneuverings, as both funding for Planned Parenthood and the FDA’s approval of mifepristone fall under HHS’s purview.