{"id":10777,"date":"2025-03-06T04:17:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T04:17:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/a-skeptical-g-o-p-senator-makes-his-peace-with-kennedy\/"},"modified":"2025-03-06T04:17:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T04:17:04","slug":"a-skeptical-g-o-p-senator-makes-his-peace-with-kennedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/a-skeptical-g-o-p-senator-makes-his-peace-with-kennedy\/","title":{"rendered":"A Skeptical G.O.P. Senator Makes His Peace With Kennedy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Perhaps no vote was as agonizing for Senator Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican and medical doctor, than his vote to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as President Trump\u2019s health secretary. Mr. Cassidy wondered aloud for days how Mr. Kennedy, the nation\u2019s most vocal and powerful critic of vaccinations, might handle an infectious disease crisis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now, as a measles outbreak rages in West Texas, Mr. Cassidy has found out. It all comes down, he said, to \u201cthe gestalt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Monday, days after the Texas outbreak killed an unvaccinated child, Mr. Cassidy, the chairman of the Senate Health Committee, was clipping down a Capitol corridor when he was asked about Mr. Kennedy. He pointed to a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/opinion\/robert-f-kennedy-jr-measles-outbreak-call-action-all-us\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Fox News Digital opinion piece<\/a> in which Mr. Kennedy advised parents to consult their doctors about vaccination, while calling it a \u201cpersonal\u201d decision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThat Fox editorial was very much encouraging people to get vaccinated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Reminded that Mr. Kennedy had described it as a personal choice, Mr. Cassidy thought for a moment. \u201cIf you want to like, parse it down to the line, you can say, \u2018Discuss with your doctor,\u2019\u201d Mr. Cassidy said. \u201cHe also said, \u2018We\u2019re making vaccinations available. We\u2019re doing this for vaccination. We\u2019re doing that for vaccination.\u2019 So if you take the gestalt of it, the gestalt was, \u2018Let\u2019s get vaccinated!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Cassidy\u2019s assessment \u2014 that the whole of Mr. Kennedy\u2019s message was more than the sum of its parts \u2014 reflects how the measles outbreak has put a spotlight on how Mr. Trump\u2019s unorthodox choice to run the country\u2019s top health agency has brought a once-fringe perspective into the political mainstream, creating discomfort for some Republicans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As the founder and chairman of his nonprofit, Children\u2019s Health Defense, and later as a presidential candidate, Mr. Kennedy has repeatedly downplayed the benefits of vaccination. He has also repeatedly suggested that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine causes autism, despite extensive research that has found no link.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Since winning Trump\u2019s nod to head the sprawling Department of Health and Human Services, Mr. Kennedy has walked a careful line on the issue. Some of his recent statements, in which he stops short of denouncing vaccines, have angered some of his supporters. But his less than full-throated endorsement of vaccination, and his promotion of alternative remedies to treat measles, have angered mainstream scientists who say the one proven way to prevent measles is the vaccine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThis, I would say, is the barest of the bare minimum that one can do in the middle of a measles outbreak,\u201d said Dr. Adam Ratner, a New York City pediatrician who just published a book, \u201cBooster Shots,\u201d that warns of a measles resurgence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But Del Bigtree, Mr. Kennedy\u2019s former communications director and one of his closest allies, said Mr. Kennedy was doing exactly what he said he would do: putting all options on the table and letting parents decide for themselves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He used the word \u201cbalance\u201d to describe Mr. Kennedy\u2019s approach, and said the media was being \u201cincredibly disingenuous and in some ways alarmist and dangerous by creating a panic over a death from measles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Asked about Mr. Cassidy\u2019s \u201cgestalt\u201d remark, Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the department, referred back to the Fox opinion piece. He said the health secretary\u2019s comment could speak for itself: \u201cVaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Cassidy, a liver specialist, made his career in medicine treating uninsured patients as a doctor in Louisiana\u2019s charity hospital system. He is a fierce proponent of vaccines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But he is also facing a Republican primary challenger in 2026, and voting against Mr. Kennedy risked prompting Mr. Trump to endorse his opponent \u2014 and sparking a potential backlash among an increasingly vaccine-skeptical G.O.P. electorate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Kennedy\u2019s \u201cmedical freedom\u201d movement, which he calls \u201cMake America Healthy Again,\u201d is now <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/10\/09\/us\/politics\/medical-freedom-public-health-rfk-trump.html\" title=\"\">deeply entrenched<\/a> in the Republican Party. The coronavirus pandemic turned many conservatives against vaccine mandates, even for children attending school. Around the country, nearly 1,000 candidates, nearly all Republican, ran for elective office in November with the backing of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/standforhealthfreedom.com\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Stand for Health Freedom<\/a>, a Florida nonprofit that has pushed to make it easier for parents to opt out of school vaccine requirements.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For Mr. Cassidy and other Republicans who were uneasy about Mr. Kennedy, the situation in West Texas is forcing a reckoning, said Whit Ayres, a Republican strategist who is also a member of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rotary.org\/en\/our-causes\/ending-polio\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Rotary International,<\/a> an organization that has set a goal of ending polio by promoting vaccination around the world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cHis position on vaccines was exceedingly well known when he was nominated, and when he was confirmed by the United States Senate,\u201d Mr. Ayers said. \u201cEverybody, with their eyes open, knew that his positions could lead to a resurgence of measles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As vaccination rates have dropped around the country, public health experts have warned that measles would be the first infectious disease to come back. But the Texas measles outbreak cannot be blamed on Mr. Kennedy. The <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/28\/health\/texas-measles-vaccine.html\" title=\"\">disease began spreading<\/a> within the Mennonite community, an insular Christian group that settled in West Texas in the 1970s; many Mennonites are unvaccinated and vulnerable to the virus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Kennedy minimized the situation in Texas during a Cabinet meeting with Mr. Trump last week, saying measles outbreaks in the United States are \u201cnot unusual.\u201d His Fox opinion piece promoted the use of vitamin A, which studies have shown is useful in treating measles in malnourished children.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He followed up with a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/video\/6369595673112\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">prerecorded Fox News interview<\/a> that aired on Tuesday, in which he said parents and doctors should consider alternative approaches, including cod liver oil, for the treatment of measles. He also <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/04\/health\/texas-measles-outbreak-kennedy.html\" title=\"\">acknowledged<\/a> that vaccines \u201cdo prevent infection.\u201d But once again, Mr. Kennedy did not urge Americans to get vaccinated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Texas Department of Health <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dshs.texas.gov\/news-alerts\/confirmed-case-measles-january-2025\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">issued a health alert<\/a> on Jan. 23 reporting two cases of measles. Since then, nearly 160 people have contracted the illness and 22 have been hospitalized. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/04\/us\/politics\/cdc-measles-outbreak.html\" title=\"\">said Tuesday<\/a> that it had sent some of its \u201cdisease detectives\u201d to Texas to support local officials in the response.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">By Wednesday, while Mr. Cassidy appeared satisfied with Mr. Kennedy\u2019s handling of the matter, the senator was pushing another key health nominee on questions of measles, vaccines and autism.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He wanted to know whether Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, appearing before the Senate health committee for <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/05\/us\/politics\/nih-hearing-jay-bhattacharya.html\" title=\"\">his confirmation hearing<\/a> as Trump\u2019s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health, intended to spend tax dollars on research into the discredited theory that vaccines cause autism. Mr. Cassidy had repeatedly, and unsuccessfully, tried to get Mr. Kennedy to reject that theory in his own confirmation hearing. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Dr. Bhattacharya told the senator he was \u201cconvinced\u201d that there is no link between the measles vaccine and autism. But like Mr. Kennedy, he said he supported additional research, if only to assuage the fears of nervous parents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Cassidy was incensed, saying the matter had already been settled by years of extensive research. New studies, he said, would waste taxpayer dollars and take away money from studies that might uncover the true causes of autism. He pounded his fist on the table.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIf we\u2019re pissing away money over here,\u201d he said with a wave of his hand, \u201cthat\u2019s less money that we have to actually go after the true reason.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And in any event, Mr. Cassidy said, further research would not change minds. \u201cThere\u2019s people who disagree that the world is round,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cPeople still think Elvis is alive.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">To <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/12\/us\/rfk-jr-senate-vote-hhs.html\" title=\"\">secure Mr. Cassidy\u2019s vote last month,<\/a> Mr. Kennedy made a series of concessions, which Mr. Cassidy outlined in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cassidy.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/cassidy-delivers-floor-speech-in-support-of-rfk-jr-to-be-hhs-secretary\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a Senate floor speech.<\/a> They included a pledge not to disband the committee of experts that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccines, and to leave intact statements on the C.D.C.\u2019s website saying that vaccines do not cause autism.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Kennedy also promised to have an \u201cunprecedentedly close collaborative working relationship\u201d with Mr. Cassidy, and to meet or speak with him \u201cmultiple times a month,\u201d and to give Congress advance notice of any vaccine policy changes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI will carefully watch for any effort to wrongfully sow public fear about vaccines between confusing references of coincidence and anecdote,\u201d Mr. Cassidy said then.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On his way into the Senate chamber on Monday, he said he thought Mr. Kennedy was doing a good job with the Texas response. \u201cHe\u2019s handling it well,\u201d the senator said. He was asked if he had spoken to Mr. Kennedy about the measles outbreak.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe speak on a regular basis,\u201d Mr. Cassidy said, adding: \u201cLet\u2019s leave it at that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/05\/us\/politics\/bill-cassidy-rfk-measles.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Perhaps no vote was as agonizing for Senator Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican and medical doctor, than his vote to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10778,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[1087,1086,623,144,915,729,916,111,624],"class_list":["post-10777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-2","tag-bill-1957","tag-cassidy","tag-epidemics","tag-health-and-human-services-department","tag-kennedy","tag-measles","tag-robert-f-jr","tag-united-states-politics-and-government","tag-vaccination-and-immunization"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A Skeptical G.O.P. 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