WASHINGTON – A growing number of Republican senators are publicly challenging Donald Trump’s embrace of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s discredited theories linking vaccines to autism and questioning the safety of common pain relievers during pregnancy, creating a potential political rift for the former president.
Leading the opposition is Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, chair of the senate health commitee, who despite previously confirming Kennedy as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) while harboring reservations about his anti-vaccine views, is now demanding transparency. “HHS should release the new data that it has to support this claim,” Cassidy, a medical doctor, wrote on social media. “The preponderance of evidence shows that this is not the case. The concern is that women will be left with no options to manage pain in pregnancy.”
Cassidy, facing re-election next year, elaborated in an interview with The Hill, questioning the basis for potential changes to medical guidelines. “You’re going to change a medical guideline without science?” he asked, referencing recent Senate testimony from former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Susan Monarez. Monarez testified she was dismissed after Kennedy pressured her to approve new childhood vaccination recommendations without regard for scientific data. “I mean, you’re going to build a bridge without physics? You’re going to fly a plane without engineering?”
Senator Susan Collins of Maine echoed Cassidy’s concerns, telling The Hill that Monarez appeared to be “under a lot of pressure to approve recommendations that may…lack scientific basis,” which she warned would “undermine our public health efforts.” Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska described Monarez’s account of Kennedy’s vaccine policy committee as “very unsettling and very concerning.”
The controversy extends beyond vaccines. Trump recently advised pregnant women to avoid acetaminophen (a principal ingredient in Tylenol) and “tough it out” when experiencing fever or pain. This advice directly contradicts recommendations from medical bodies like the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, who endorse acetaminophen use during pregnancy.
some Republicans fear Kennedy’s views could become a political liability for Trump. “You see a lot of Republicans starting to break ranks here,and there’s a lot of noise,” an unnamed senator told The Hill. “I think it will come down to Trump and what his tolerance level is for all this noise around [Kennedy].…He’s not like anyone else in the cabinet.”
