In a Combative Confirmation Hearing, Kennedy Delivers Compelling Arguments for Gold Standard Science and an End to Corporate Capture

By Jennifer Galardi, Special to The Kennedy Beacon

Today’s hearing to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was a fiery and contentious affair featuring a flurry of punches by Democrats that failed to land.

Antagonistic opening statements from Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) followed by explosive outbursts from the audience immediately set a tempestuous tone.

But Democrats' intentionally combative and dramatic behavior did more to support Kennedy’s candidacy than did any substantial arguments they put forth.

Members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance came out swinging, not with a genuine curiosity for answers from Kennedy, but to protect an anti-Trump agenda, proving yet again that those doing the punching are more concerned with creating a spectacle to make a name for themselves than with Americans’ health.

While both parties mounted criticisms of some of Kennedy’s past statements, the lies, hyperbolic fear mongering, and attacks, mostly from the left side of the aisle, were relentless and disingenuous. Ironic, considering Kennedy spent most of his life as a staunch Democrat. Indeed, some Democrats posed fewer questions, rather delivering unintelligible soliloquies.

Kennedy received the full Pete Hegseth treatment from Democrats who acted more like petulant children than distinguished members of Congress. He was met with blatant hostility and “gotcha questions” from committee members throughout the hearing, insisting he answer “yes or no” to overly broad statements that required nuanced and thoughtful responses.

Often the Democrats pardoned their rapid fire aggressive rants with the excuse they only had “five minutes.” Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) insisted Kennedy answer the question of whether or not he agreed with the statement that “the United States should join every other major country on earth and guarantee healthcare to all people as a human right.” When the nominee tried to respond, Sanders cut him off and demanded a more simplistic answer than the question deserved.

Indeed, many Senators did not allow space for any response from Kennedy, prioritizing their soundbites for clickbait, to win political points rather than address genuine health concerns of the American people.

In a moment that is sure to become a viral meme, Sanders shouted at Kennedy, “Are you supportive of these onesies?!?!?” – a reference to the baby clothing sold on the Children’s Health Defense organization’s website, an activist group that Kennedy once led. He has stepped down from the board since his nomination.

Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) proclaimed he only had five minutes and that he had a lot of “experience with CMS (Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Service).” Therefore, he had no inquiries for Kennedy whatsoever. Instead, the nominee was “just gonna have to listen” to him ramble on about an unnameable “granny” in a story that no one in the room could follow.

Whitehouse also declared that citizens would need to hear a clear statement from Kennedy that vaccinations are safe and that he would support mandatory vaccinations. Indeed, throughout the over three hour hearing, Democrats went on ad nauseam, parroting the well known attacks that mischaracterize Kennedy’s so-called anti-vaccination stance, something he has debunked many times since President Trump announced his nomination in November.

But Kennedy made his case for gold standard science and an end to corporate capture.

When the committee finally offered Kennedy space to answer, he was adamant in contesting the lies. He acknowledged that vaccines play a critical role in healthcare and that all his kids are vaccinated. However, Kennedy demanded that those who report side effects from vaccines should not be silenced and that the gold standard of research should be applied to vaccines as they would be to any other pharmaceutical drug.

At one point, Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) had to dispute a nonsensical attack from Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) regarding Kennedy’s financial interests. Crapo confirmed that Kennedy has passed all the ethical and financial conditions of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) that reviews every nominee to serve in the administration.

As was true during the Hegseth hearing, Democrats grilled Kennedy with deceptive lines of questioning – for example, would he oppose a policy put forth by Donald Trump if it went against his own conscience. And, like Hegseth, Kennedy made clear that he was there at the behest of the president. And while it would be his job to advise the president on health matters, ultimately, his job was to carry out the agenda set forth by President Trump.

In case the committee missed the memo, American voters gave an unequivocal mandate for Trump to reform business as usual in Washington, D.C. That includes entrusting him to put the right people in place to radically alter the way America addresses the biggest epidemic in the country – chronic disease.

Most Republicans understand this imperative from the American people. Only Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) said the obvious: Kennedy’s approach to health is “something the American people desperately want.”

Senator Crapo turned the conversation to nutrition-oriented disease prevention and gave Kennedy the opportunity to address the notion of food as medicine. When he wasn’t defending himself from baseless claims, Kennedy shined.

He discussed his thoughts on modifying the country’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) so that it offers more healthy options and limits federal dollars that can be spent on unhealthy sugar laden drinks, which comprise 10% of all SNAP spending. Kennedy also discussed the importance of agricultural considerations in health discussions, something that the Senators from more rural areas of the country such as Monatana and Idaho welcomed.

Kennedy emphasized the need for what he called ‘radical transparency’ throughout the medical and food supply systems from scientific research;to unsavory ties between health agencies and the industries with which they conspire; to healthcare spending. American citizens, Kennedy insisted, deserve to know how and where their dollars are being spent.

Kennedy said Americans also deserve to know what is in the food they eat, a transparency that supports Kennedy’s broader directive for informed consent: he said he was “not going to tell Americans what to eat,” but that he did “want Americans to know what they're eating.” Kennedy added, “if you want a Diet Coke and McDonald’s cheeseburger you should get it,” not missing an opportunity to take a friendly jab at his potential boss, noting that Trump is a big fan.

The hearing epitomized the dysfunction of D.C. and a bureaucracy more content to put band aids on problems rather than treat the root causes of disease. While many members of Congress continued to get bogged down in details over Medicare and Medicaid, Senator Johnson offered a refreshing moment of clarity, commenting that doing so was just, “moving deck chairs on the Titanic – our ship is sinking.”

Kennedy echoed Johnson by saying he would like to transform Medicare and Medicaid programming and measure their success by positive outcomes rather than by how much money is pumped into programming. Ultimately, patients would be more responsible for understanding the link between diet and disease. Eventually, this would mean fewer sick patients and more sustainability for these crucial healthcare programs. Kennedy referred to this approach as “value based programming.”

Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS), a physician, summed up how many Americans feel about Kennedy and his commitment to restoring health to all Americans: “I think that you are THE person to lead HHS to make America healthy again. That God has a divine purpose for you.”

Today’s hearing made clear the tension between those who believe in the current medical paradigm – and all the agencies and corporate interests that serve it – and those who see how broken our health care system is, how ripe it is for reform.