Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is building public health “upon a foundation of lies,” in a sharp rebuke that marks a dramatic reversal from the Louisiana senator’s pivotal vote to advance Kennedy’s nomination last year.
In an interview on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” conducted June 25 and aired June 28, Cassidy, a medical doctor who chairs the Senate health committee, said Kennedy’s commitments to him “have been violated.” Cassidy explained he cast the deciding vote to confirm Kennedy because the alternative was having him installed as a White House health czar without any congressional oversight.
“Either he was going to be in a position where there were guardrails, and I did have commitments made as to kind of guardrails. Or he was going to be appointed White House health czar,” Cassidy said, according to CBS News. “You can criticize it, but I chose to have the one with the guardrails.”
The Broken Promises
When Cassidy voted to advance Kennedy’s nomination on the Senate health committee on February 4, 2025, he outlined specific commitments Kennedy had made to him. One key pledge was that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would maintain on its website a statement that vaccines do not cause autism, according to CBS News.
That commitment has since been undermined. The CDC’s vaccine safety page now includes a heading stating “Vaccines do not cause Autism” but marks it with an asterisk and notes at the bottom that the phrase remains due to an agreement with Cassidy. Immediately below, the page states the claim “is not an evidence-based claim” and raises questions about the statement, according to CBS News’s reporting.
Cassidy told CBS News that Kennedy had also promised to restore public trust in vaccines and immunization programs. Instead, Cassidy said, “He has not restored trust in public health.” The senator pointed to polling showing Americans understand vaccines are important, and that Kennedy’s anti-vaccine messaging works against public experience and safety data.
The resurgence of measles underscores the stakes. In the first two months of 2026 alone, the CDC recorded over 1,000 measles cases spanning 27 states and 10 separate outbreaks, according to the Loma Linda University School of Public Health. Cassidy said in June that he directly blamed Kennedy for the return of vaccine-preventable illnesses.
Kennedy testified before Congress in June 2025 that he was “complying with all the agreements” he made with Cassidy, according to CBS News. But Cassidy’s latest comments suggest those assurances have not held.
The senator also criticized Kennedy’s rollback of U.S. vaccine diplomacy initiatives, particularly efforts to curb disease in Africa through programs like PEPFAR, which has saved an estimated 26 million lives since its launch by President George W. Bush over two decades ago. “It is better than sending troops, it’s cheaper than sending troops, it’s a humane thing to do,” Cassidy said, according to CBS News. “It’s in the U.S. interest.”
Cassidy is among a handful of Republican senators who have openly criticized Trump administration policies. Three Republican senators, including Cassidy, are either retiring or lost their primaries to Trump-backed challengers, limiting the number of voices willing to challenge the president’s priorities on Capitol Hill.
Sources
- CBS News — Full interview with Sen. Cassidy on “Face the Nation,” including direct quotes on public health and broken commitments; details on CDC website changes and vaccine promises.
- The Washington Post — Reporting on Cassidy’s criticism of Kennedy’s health policies and recent tensions with Trump.
- Loma Linda University School of Public Health — Data on measles cases in 2026.
