Opponents of Kennedy’s bid for America’s top health post are urging senators to reject it Reuters

Michael Erman and Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK (Reuters) – More than 80 organizations on Friday spoke out in opposition to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s leadership of the top U.S. health agency ahead of his Senate confirmation hearing, while the 314 314 group 314 Action (WA 🙂 launched a six-figure ad buy to sway Republican senators against him.

A $250,000 ad campaign will be rolled out in eight states in an effort to convince Republican lawmakers — including Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Curtis of Utah — that Kennedy’s past comments spreading vaccine misinformation pose a danger. for American Public Health.

Senators will have a chance to question Kennedy about his nomination to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services at a hearing on Wednesday.

“Senators on both sides of the aisle have a responsibility to hold him accountable,” said Shaughnessy Naughton, president of Action 314, which aims to elect Democrats with science backgrounds to public office.

Meanwhile, the advocacy group Consumer Protection and Health Care Protect Our Care wrote a letter sent Friday to all 100 U.S. senators, urging them to announce their opposition to Kennedy. They recruited 85 other nongovernmental groups to join the letter, including the Alliance of Concerned Scientists, the NAACP, and the National Organization for Women.

“If Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., commands the Department of Health and Human Services, we will face lies and misinformation on an unprecedented scale capable of undoing a century of progress in fighting disease and promoting public health,” said Reuters, in a letter. he said.

Republican President Donald Trump announced his choice of Kennedy for the post in November.

Much of the opposition to Kennedy is fueled by his stance on vaccines, but a group founded by former Republican Vice President Mike Pence also takes issue with Kennedy’s comments in support of abortion rights.

A spokesman for Kennedy and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.

With Republicans holding a slim majority of seats in the Senate, the party wants to ensure unity behind Kennedy, and no Republican senator has so far voiced opposition.

Kennedy has long cast doubt on the safety and effectiveness of vaccines that have helped fight disease and prevent death for decades. He is slow to characterize anti-vaccines and has said he will not prevent Americans from getting the inoculation.

But he led the children’s health defense to fight vaccines and in a 2023 interview with Podcaster Lex Fridman, he said that no vaccines are safe and effective.

Kennedy said he wants to work to end chronic disease, break all ties between employees at the U.S. regulator and the drug industry, and advise U.S. water systems to remove fluoride.

Kennedy has faced new scrutiny over his ties to Wisner Baum, a law firm specializing in pharmaceutical drug injury cases. Kennedy has an arrangement to earn 10% of the fees awarded in contingency cases, according to a letter Kennedy wrote to the HHS ethics official released Wednesday.

If confirmed, Kennedy would retain that financial interest in cases that do not directly affect the US government, the letter said.