Senator Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) sharply criticized Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s approach to vaccines and public health, describing it as rooted in falsehoods. In an interview aired Sunday on CBS News’s “Face the Nation,” Cassidy, a physician who cast a pivotal vote last year to advance Kennedy’s nomination through the Senate Health Committee, said he has since lost confidence in Kennedy’s leadership.
Cassidy’s rebuke came shortly after a tense encounter with former President Donald Trump during a Senate GOP luncheon last week, where the two clashed over U.S. policy toward Iran. Cassidy acknowledged that he raised his voice during the confrontation, characterizing his outburst as an inappropriate reaction fueled by his Irish temper.
Addressing Kennedy’s vaccine policies, Cassidy accused the health secretary of reneging on a prior agreement to clearly state on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention materials that there is no scientific basis linking vaccines to autism. Cassidy said this breach of trust undermines public health efforts and emphasized the necessity of basing health policies on accurate information.
“Once you lose trust in somebody, you’re not quite sure what to trust going forward. In fact, you don’t trust anything,” Cassidy said. He added, “If you build public health upon a foundation of lies, then you’re going to have the absence of adequate public health. You need to build everything in life on truth.”
Cassidy explained that during Kennedy’s confirmation process, he sought assurances that Kennedy’s initiatives would be subject to oversight, preferring to have him serve with “guardrails” in place rather than as an unchecked adviser to the president. “Either he was going to be in a position where there were guardrails… or he was going to be appointed White House health czar, in which case he would have the president’s ear without the guardrails,” Cassidy said. “You can criticize it, but I chose to have the one with the guardrails.”
The senator’s remarks come amid a challenging period in his political career. Cassidy lost his recent Louisiana Republican primary defeat to a candidate endorsed by Trump, bringing an end to his 11-year tenure in the Senate, which will conclude in January. The senator’s relationship with Trump has grown increasingly strained since he voted to convict Trump during the former president’s 2021 impeachment trial following the Capitol riot.
On foreign policy, Cassidy initially supported a legislative measure aimed at restricting Trump’s authority to wage war in Iran but reversed his position after a briefing from Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. The measure ultimately failed. Cassidy expressed concern that Trump views Congress as an “appendage” and stressed the need for better communication. He pointed to the constitutional framework designed by the Founding Fathers to balance presidential power and ensure that governance reflects the will of the American people rather than that of a single individual.