Bill Cassidy voted for RFK Jr. on the strength of vaccine commitments. Seven months later he told Kennedy, “effectively we’re denying people vaccine.”
- 4 FEB 2025EXPLAINED
- 13 FEB 2025VOTED
- 4 SEP 2025≠ SAID
≠ He voted yes on vaccine commitments; seven months later he said people were effectively being denied vaccine
1 · EXPLAINED · 4 FEB 2025
“Now, Mr. Kennedy and the administration reached out, seeking to reassure me regarding their commitment to protecting the public health benefit of vaccination.”
On the Senate floor, announcing his support. He then listed the commitments, including that Kennedy would work within current vaccine approval and safety monitoring systems and keep ACIP’s recommendations without changes.
2 · VOTED · 13 FEB 2025
| Nomination | Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services |
|---|---|
| Question | On the Nomination (confirmation) |
| Result | Confirmed 52–48 |
| Cassidy | YEA |
| Republican nays | McConnell |
| Cloture, 12 Feb | Agreed 53–47. Cassidy: YEA (roll call 51) |
3 · ≠ SAID · 4 SEP 2025
“You also told Senator Wyden at the outset that you didn’t want to take vaccines away from people.” … “I would say effectively we’re denying people vaccine.”
To Secretary Kennedy at a Senate Finance Committee hearing, after reading letters about COVID vaccine access into the record. Kennedy replied: “You’re wrong.”
HOW WE CHECKED THIS
Quotes were transcribed from the original videos (checked with two speech models) and cut at sentence boundaries. Roll calls 51 and 52 were read on senate.gov on 21 Oct 2026. Spot an error? Tell us, and we’ll correct it in public.