Senator Cassidy’s Line(s) in the Sand

Senator William Cassidy (R, LA) promised that he would prevent RFK Jr. from disrupting vaccine programs. How’s he doing?

On January 30, 2025, RFK Jr. appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. The committee would decide whether to confirm RFK Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Senator William Cassidy (R, LA), a doctor with a history of supporting vaccines, chaired the committee. Knowing RFK Jr.’s history as head of the anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense, many in the scientific and medical community were counting on Senator Cassidy to stand up for public health and vote “no”.

He voted “yes”. To allay the fears of those who were concerned about RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine activism and science denialism, Cassidy described how he would keep him in check. “Mr. Kennedy and the administration committed that he and I would have an unprecedentedly close, collaborative working relationship,” wrote Cassidy. “We will meet and speak several times a month.” On February 13, 2025, the Senate confirmed RFK Jr. to head HHS by a vote of 52-48.

At the time of RFK Jr.’s confirmation, the United States was suffering a massive measles epidemic that had affected thousands of people. Three people, including two healthy, unvaccinated 6- and 8-year-old girls, had died from the disease. These were the first measles deaths in children in the United States in more than 20 years. Instead of vigorously and unequivocally urging parents to vaccinate their children, RFK Jr. went on a national broadcast on Fox News on March 10, 2025, and claimed that measles vaccine kills people every year. Later, RFK Jr. said that natural measles infection prevented cancer and heart disease. Measles, according to the newly confirmed Secretary of HHS, was a good thing. Measles vaccine, on the other hand, was a bad thing. Senator Cassidy didn’t publicly admonish RFK Jr. for his blatant, dangerous misinformation. Instead, he posted on X that “Everyone should be vaccinated! There is no treatment for measles.” And that was it.

On May 27, 2025, RFK. Jr. posted a one-minute video on X stating that he was no longer recommending the Covid vaccine for young children and pregnant mothers. The CDC was blindsided by the announcement. Although studies had clearly shown that children benefited from a primary vaccination series and pregnancy was a risk factor for severe Covid, RFK Jr. insisted that those recommendations be removed, which they were. RFK Jr.’s unilateral, unsupportable edict contradicted his pledge to Senator Cassidy that “he’ll maintain the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations without changes.” The following day, Senator Cassidy posted on X that “I will continue to work with [the president of the United States] to protect America’s children from irreversible harm.” RFK Jr. now knew that he was free from government oversight.

It gets worse. On June 9, 2025, RFK Jr. fired all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). This action was in direct violation of his promise to Senator Cassidy that “he would work within current vaccine approval and safety monitoring systems.” After the firings, Senator Cassidy posted his response on X, again trying to calm the fears that RFK Jr. would now stock the ACIP with people who, like him, were anti-vaccine science denialists. “Of course, now the fear is that the ACIP will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion,” wrote Cassidy. “I have just spoken with Secretary Kennedy, and I’ll continue to ensure that this is not the case.” Two days later, RFK Jr. replaced those he had fired with eight people who had either testified on his behalf in lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies, published papers claiming non-existent vaccine harms, lobbied states to eliminate school vaccine requirements, or never published a paper about vaccines. Again, RFK Jr. had promised Senator Cassidy one thing and done another. Cassidy responded by posting on X that the ACIP meeting “should be delayed until the panel is fully staffed with more robust and balanced representation—as required by law—including those with more direct relevant expertise.” It was unclear what Senator Cassidy meant by “balanced representation.” Did he mean balancing the committee with members who weren’t anti-vaccine or weren’t anti-science? Was he at some level accepting those whom RFK Jr. had chosen to be on the committee? The meeting took place without delay and without comment from Senator Cassidy.

During the second day of the new ACIP meeting, Lyn Redwood, an anti-vaccine activist, presented her case to the committee that a mercury-containing preservative in multi-dose influenza vaccines was harmful. Her presentation was full of misrepresentations and inaccuracies. Typically, presentations to the CDC are reviewed by subject matter experts to make sure that the ACIP is provided with the best information before a vote. Not this time. RFK Jr.’s new ACIP, which could now be called the Anti-Vaccine Committee on Immunization Practices, made an anti-science vote based on Redwood’s misinformation. Senator Cassidy said nothing.

RFK Jr. isn’t finished. His goal is to make vaccines less available, less affordable, and more feared. The best way to do that—and enrich himself and his personal injury lawyer friends at the same time—would be to make it easier to bring bogus lawsuits to civil court claiming vaccine injuries. This will require manipulating the current Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). Toward that end, on June 16, RFK Jr. paid $150,000 to an Arizona law firm with an expertise in the VICP. If RFK Jr. is successful, we will relive what happened in the 1980s when civil litigation in open court reduced the number of vaccine makers from 18 to 4. And if you think this would be a bridge too far for Senator Cassidy, you haven’t been paying attention.

One can reasonably infer from his frequent biblical quotations on X that Senator Cassidy is a deeply religious man—a devout Christian who embraces the teachings of Jesus. He no doubt knows that it was Jesus who said, “Verily, I say unto you, in as much as you have done it unto the least of my brethren, you have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40). Jesus stood up for children, protected them. Unfortunately, Senator Cassidy’s ironic legacy might be that he stood back and watched as a dangerous man destroyed vaccine programs causing our children—the most vulnerable among us—to suffer needlessly.