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By Sarah Owermohle, John Wilkerson, and Rachel Cohrs Zhang

Dec. 17, 2024

WASHINGTON — If Republican senators are concerned about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s previous criticism of vaccines or support for abortion access, many who’ve had early meetings with him are not showing it.

President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the Health and Human Services Department is meeting with nearly two dozen senators this week in a bid to clinch their votes for his confirmation. STAT approached more than a dozen of those senators on Tuesday. 

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None of them said they’d oppose Kennedy’s nomination outright, though a few said they have concerns about his views on vaccines. RFK Jr. has falsely claimed polio vaccines killed more people than the virus itself. A recent report that one of his associates filed a petition to remove a polio vaccine from the market prompted a statement from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warning against efforts to undermine polio vaccinations.  

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  1. Sarah Owermohle

    Washington Correspondent

    Sarah Owermohle reports on the administration’s health care initiatives, federal health policy, and its intersection with politics and the courts. She joined STAT in 2022 after covering health policy at Politico. She is also the co-author of the free, twice-weekly D.C. Diagnosis newsletter.

  2. John Wilkerson

    Washington Correspondent

    John Wilkerson is a Washington correspondent for STAT who writes about the politics of health care.

  3. Rachel Cohrs Zhang

    Chief Washington Correspondent

    Rachel Cohrs Zhang reports on the intersection of health policy and business in Washington. She covers Capitol Hill, lobbying, and federal agencies. Her primary areas of focus are the pharmaceutical and hospital industries. She is also the co-author of the free, twice-weekly D.C. Diagnosis newsletter.