WASHINGTON — Sen. Bill Cassidy questioned Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday in two Senate hearings in Washington, pressing him on affordability, fraud, abortion drugs and the rise of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles. Cassidy, a Republican and liver doctor who chairs one committee overseeing the Department of Health and Human Services and sits on another, is seeking reelection in next month's primary in Louisiana.

Cassidy asked Kennedy how he would address expected outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases ahead of the upcoming World Cup and America 250 events. "I am a doctor who has seen people die from vaccine preventable diseases. And when I see outbreaks numbering in the thousands and people dying once more from vaccine preventable diseases, particularly children, it seems more than tragic," he said. Cassidy also asked why HHS had not reinstated an in-person dispensing requirement for chemical abortion drugs.

Cassidy provided support for Kennedy's nomination in 2025 after securing commitments that Kennedy would work within the current vaccine approval and safety monitoring system and support the childhood vaccine schedule. "Let me point out that I am the reason that Robert F. Kennedy is now the secretary of HHS. He would not have gotten there otherwise," Cassidy said at the hearings. He said he had strongly supported the Make America Healthy Again agenda, particularly in the fight against ultraprocessed foods, and added, "I want to work with the president to fulfill his campaign promise to reform the CDC and Make America Healthy Again. The president says radical transparency is the way to do that."

As a liver doctor, Cassidy advocated for babies to receive hepatitis B vaccines shortly after birth. At a September hearing, he criticized Kennedy's decision to slash funding for mRNA vaccine development, questioned Kennedy's attempt to replace members of a vaccine committee, and raised concerns that Kennedy's vaccine policy decisions could be making it harder for Americans to get COVID-19 shots. He also convened a hearing featuring former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez, who was ousted by Kennedy less than a month into her tenure after they clashed over vaccine policy, and former CDC Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry, who resigned in August citing an erosion of science at the agency.

President Donald Trump endorsed one of Cassidy's opponents in the Louisiana Senate primary, and the senator faces opposition from the Make America Healthy Again movement. "He's taken a risk showing any sort of resistance to RFK," said Claire Leavitt, an assistant professor at Smith College. Dorit Reiss, a vaccine law expert at UC Law San Francisco, said, "He's probably not alienating voters by focusing on the issue and calling it out."