Sen. Bill Cassidy has a big decision to make about Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
When Kennedy makes his first public appearance before the Senate health committee Wednesday since his February confirmation, public health officials and advocates hope the GOP senator from Louisiana — a doctor — will again challenge Kennedy’s long-held view that vaccines cause autism, as he did during Kennedy’s confirmation hearings, and also question actions Kennedy has taken as secretary.
But people with knowledge of Cassidy and Kennedy’s rapport expect Cassidy might opt to stick with a nonconfrontational approach he believes has helped steer Kennedy away from his anti-vaccine impulses since his confirmation — despite taking heat from the public health crowd.
“It’s probably going to be really disappointing for people who want fireworks,” said one of those people, adding that Cassidy and Kennedy often talk multiple times a week.
Where Cassidy comes down will say a lot about how much scrutiny Kennedy’s vaccine policies are going to get on Capitol Hill.
After his tough questions in January, Cassidy voted to confirm Kennedy, saying Kennedy had promised to uphold the current vaccine approval and monitoring system.
“I will carefully watch for any effort to wrongfully sow public fear about vaccines,” Cassidy said in a floor speech</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-delivers-floor-speech-in-support-of-rfk-jr-to-be-hhs-secretary/","_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a0f0000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a0f0001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>said in a floor speech explaining his vote.
Since then, Cassidy has refrained from publicly criticizing the secretary, even as Kennedy has pledged new scrutiny for Covid-19 vaccines, offered lukewarm endorsement of the measles shot during an outbreak and reportedly hired a vaccine skeptic to lead a search for autism’s cause.
From his perch as chair of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Cassidy could make life miserable for Kennedy by interrogating him, second-guessing his decisions and calling critics to testify against him.
But Cassidy over the last two months has instead chosen to try to influence Kennedy behind the scenes, believing it would be more productive to privately press Kennedy on thorny issues like vaccines rather than join the chorus of loud-yet-largely ineffective opposition, according to a person who has discussed the matter with Cassidy and was granted anonymity to share details of private conversations.
In making his choice about how to handle Kennedy, Cassidy also has to weigh whether he wants to risk getting on the wrong side of a Cabinet member whom President Donald Trump sees as a major contributor to</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/26/rfk-jr-isnt-staying-in-his-lane-trump-is-thrilled-00310770","_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a0f0002","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a0f0003","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>sees as a major contributor to his election win and a key asset in ensuring the GOP retains control of Congress next year.
Cassidy, who’s up for reelection next year, voted to convict Trump</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T0HxoC_Wag","_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a0f0004","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a0f0005","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>voted to convict Trump of inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol — and is staring down a primary challenge from the MAGA right in former Trump administration official John Fleming. Trump won Louisiana in November by 22 percentage points.
“The heat is on Cassidy,” said Robert Hogan, a political science professor who studies American elections at Louisiana State University. “You’ve got an election system that he’s running in that is more favorable towards — at least within the Republican Party — a more extreme candidate, and given the way he has voted on those controversial things, he’s someone who should be worried.”
Many who work in public health see Cassidy as their best hope to rein in Kennedy’s anti-vaccine proclivities. Before joining Trump’s team, Kennedy ran a group that criticizes vaccine safety and has long believed, in defiance of scientific consensus, that the childhood vaccine schedule is linked to rising autism cases. During a confirmation hearing, Cassidy told Kennedy he was wrong about that.
“What I hope will happen is that the Dr. Cassidy will show up and that he will feel aggrieved that he’s been lied to and that Kennedy has not kept his many promises,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association, which represents public health professionals and opposed Kennedy’s confirmation.
Cassidy declined to reveal his strategy for questioning Kennedy at Wednesday’s hearing. Officially, Kennedy is headed to Capitol Hill to make a case for the Trump administration’s fiscal 2026 proposal, which would cut his department’s budget by more than a quarter.
Since voting to confirm Kennedy, Cassidy has praised him for endorsing measles vaccination</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5246512-cassidy-praises-kennedy-for-promoting-measles-vaccination-amid-outbreak/","_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a0f0006","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a0f0007","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>endorsing measles vaccination — though the health secretary disappointed public health officials by also saying getting the shot is a personal choice — and for putting money behind a search for a new vaccine to stop future pandemics</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.help.senate.gov/rep/newsroom/press/chair-cassidy-applauds-hhs-nih-initiative-to-develop-universal-vaccine-platform","_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a0f0008","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a0f0009","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>to stop future pandemics.
It’s unclear how much the senator’s private counsel has influenced Kennedy’s measles messaging. But in one conspicuous episode, Cassidy urged people to get the measles vaccine</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://x.com/senbillcassidy/status/1908903799701303633?s=46&t=M9mt1Xfq58yAZ64nK8b2qw","_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a100000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a100001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>urged people to get the measles vaccine after a second child died from the outbreak. Kennedy wrote a long post endorsing</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://x.com/senbillcassidy/status/1909013417949610007?s=46&t=M9mt1Xfq58yAZ64nK8b2qw","_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a100002","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a100003","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>long post endorsing the vaccines just hours afterward, a message Cassidy quickly amplified</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://x.com/senbillcassidy/status/1909013417949610007?s=46&t=M9mt1Xfq58yAZ64nK8b2qw","_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a100004","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a100005","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Cassidy quickly amplified.
That contrasts with the confirmation hearings, when Cassidy scolded Kennedy for his anti-vaccine past by recounting the story of a former patient of his whose liver failure could have been avoided with “$50 of vaccines.” He repeatedly asked Kennedy, unsuccessfully, to renounce his past claims that vaccines cause autism.
Cassidy held the deciding vote on Kennedy’s nomination in the Finance Committee. He voted to confirm him, he said in a February floor speech, because Kennedy promised</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-delivers-floor-speech-in-support-of-rfk-jr-to-be-hhs-secretary/","_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a100006","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a100007","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Kennedy promised to have “an unprecedently close collaborative working relationship” with him, to ask for Cassidy’s input on hiring decisions at the Department of Health and Human Services and to “work within the current vaccine approval and safety-monitoring systems.”
An HHS spokesperson said, “Secretary Kennedy maintains a professional and respectful relationship with Sen. Cassidy, grounded in a shared commitment to public health and evidence-based policymaking.”
The person who has discussed the matter with Cassidy said the senator believes his relationship with Kennedy has been productive, and that Cassidy wants to use his chair at the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to help Kennedy succeed. Cassidy doesn’t see his role as adversarial. He wants to help Kennedy use his platform in the most effective way possible, the person said.
The person said Cassidy’s decision to deal with Kennedy in this way is not motivated by his coming reelection campaign.
Cassidy also does not believe Kennedy has violated his promises to him, the person said.
But during Kennedy’s confirmation hearings, Cassidy told Kennedy his Make America Healthy Again movement was a political force.
“My phone blows up with people who really follow you, and there are many who trust you more than they trust their own physician,” Cassidy told him.
The view from Kennedy’s camp
As White House officials fought to win Cassidy’s support and save Kennedy’s teetering nomination, Trump made a personal ask of Kennedy: Try to get along with the Louisiana senator, according to two people familiar with the matter who were allowed to speak anonymously to discuss private conversations. HHS did not respond to a request for comment on that issue.
Kennedy agreed, and the administration eventually reached a deal: Cassidy would vote for him after Kennedy agreed to a list of commitments that gave the senator extraordinary access to the health secretary.
Since then, Kennedy has clearly abided by some parts of that informal contract: The two of them speak several times a week, with Kennedy giving Cassidy updates on his agenda and explaining his policy decisions, allowing Cassidy to push back on ideas that he thinks are off base.
The two have refused to talk publicly about their relationship, believing that the only way for it to be productive is if the content — and disagreements — don’t spill out into the press.
Yet Kennedy allies and advisers say Cassidy hasn’t exerted much of a visible influence on Kennedy’s policies, though they did acknowledge Kennedy has softened his vaccine rhetoric and recommended that people get the measles vaccine. An outbreak that started in Texas earlier this year has now infected more than 1,000 people and killed three.
Within Kennedy’s inner circle and the wider Trump orbit, some see a continuing need to keep Cassidy happy, especially with Kennedy still trying to get his HHS team in place. They worry that Cassidy could single-handedly halt nominees or potentially cause havoc to the broader Trump agenda if he’s alienated.
Others privately dismiss Cassidy’s influence, contending he’s persona non grata to Trump and his allies because he voted to convict the president in 2021 and is likely to lose his reelection bid next year because of it.
Seven GOP senators voted to convict Trump after 10 GOP House members voted to impeach him following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. Only five remain in Congress. Some retired, but others lost reelection campaigns after Trump targeted them, including former Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington.
Few in Kennedy’s camp believe the health secretary can help Cassidy avoid a similar fate — or would even have much inclination to if he could.
Still, there’s mutual recognition that it’s beneficial for both to get along.
“Bobby’s default position is peace,” said a person with direct knowledge. “Because that’s what the president wants.”
Promises … not kept?
Public health figures say Kennedy has already broken his promises to Cassidy, at least in spirit.
POLITICO reported in February that Kennedy was planning a shake-up</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/20/kennedy-prepares-shakeup-of-vaccine-advisers-00205223","_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a100008","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a100009","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>was planning a shake-up at a panel of expert vaccine advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an agency now under his purview, to root out members with conflicts of interest, but he hasn’t done it yet.
“They did delay the committee meeting; they did vet the members of the committee and then found out that they really didn’t have any conflicts of interest, but they still talk about people being appointed to committees having conflicts of interest,” the American Public Health Association’s Benjamin said.
Kennedy didn’t initially endorse the measles vaccine amidst the Texas outbreak, then did, but he also promoted vitamin A to treat the highly infectious disease, Benjamin said: “Had he been a physician, he would have been charged with malpractice.”
Vitamin Adoesn’t cure measles</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.idsociety.org/ID-topics/infectious-disease/measles/know-the-facts","_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a10000a","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a10000b","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>doesn’t cure measles, according to the Infectious Disease Society of America. It can prevent complications in children who are malnourished, the society said.
Dr. Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center and a doctor at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said Kennedy is testing the fences to see what he can get away with. Offit pointed to Kennedy weighing whether to pull the Covid vaccine</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/22/trump-pull-covid-vaccine-recommendation-children-00304091","_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a10000c","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a10000d","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>whether to pull the Covid vaccine from the government’s list of recommended immunizations for children and saying, incorrectly, that no vaccine has ever been tested in a clinical trial against a placebo.
“He’s an anti-vaccine activist. That’s who he is,” Offit said. Kennedy has rejected that label and told Cassidy and others he is only interested in more data about vaccine safety.
Offit recently published aletter he sent to Cassidy</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://pauloffit.substack.com/p/an-open-letter-to-senator-william","_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a10000e","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a10000f","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>letter he sent to Cassidy ahead of Wednesday’s hearing calling for Kennedy to step down. Offit said Cassidy didn’t respond.
A political conundrum
Cassidy, in raising his own concerns and then saying that Kennedy had assuaged them, “helped legitimize him,” the LSU political scientist Hogan said, with the end result a win for Trump.
On social media, Cassidy has touted his alignment with Trump’s policies and a “great working relationship</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://x.com/senbillcassidy/status/1918364146594410676?s=43&t=G6D1OoYklEVF3UCZEqHT9A","_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a100010","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a100011","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>great working relationship” with the president.
The senatoralso highlighted a shout-out</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://x.com/senbillcassidy/status/1917963670061285503?s=43&t=G6D1OoYklEVF3UCZEqHT9A","_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a100012","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a100013","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>also highlighted a shout-out from Trump at a recent White House event Cassidy participated in.
And Cassidy has voted for</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-vote-trump-cabinet-picks-top-nominees/","_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a100014","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a100015","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>has voted for every top Trump nominee to reach the Senate floor.
Cassidyleads his Senate race</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.klfy.com/louisiana/bill-cassidy-leads-louisianas-u-s-senate-race-new-poll-shows/?nxsparam=8","_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a100016","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000196-cbb1-db02-adb7-dfb75a100017","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>leads his Senate race for now, according to a Ragnar Research poll for his campaign.
That could change if Trump were to back a primary challenger, given the president’s popularity in Louisiana. Hogan said a Trump endorsement of Fleming or some other candidate would “be devastating to Cassidy.”
Fleming retired from a northwest Louisiana House seat after four terms in 2017, then held several positions in the first Trump administration, including a brief stint as a deputy chief of staff.
Elected Louisiana state treasurer in 2023, Fleming said he would have had no problem voting to confirm Kennedy if he were in Cassidy’s position.
But as he, too, is a doctor. Fleming said his support for Kennedy’s confirmation “doesn’t necessarily mean that I would agree with absolutely everything that he believes, and that would be true of most anyone.”
People close to Cassidy insist he won’t be thinking about reelection when he questions Kennedy on Wednesday.
“Having worked over eight years for Sen. Cassidy, I’ve observed that he consistently prioritizes policy outcomes over political expediency,” said Chris Gillott, a former deputy chief of staff and legislative director to the senator.
“Whether it’s lowering health care costs or advancing funding and tax policy initiatives, he makes decisions based on their impact on the country and the people of Louisiana,” Gillott added.