RFK Jr. Confirmation Hearing Highlighted His Inconsistency But Overlooked Climate and Environment

If Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination is approved, he would oversee health at a time when environmental impacts loom large.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was questioned by a Senate panel on Wednesday on his vaccine hesitancy, changing positions and potential financial conflicts of interest as part of his confirmation process to be the next health and human services secretary.

While Republican senators on the Committee on Finance mostly expressed support for President Donald Trump’s nominee, Democrats highlighted his long history of flip-flopping on issues and his perpetuation of unfounded conspiracy theories. The environment, central to Kennedy’s professional trajectory and a key factor in public health, took a back seat.

“Mr. Kennedy has changed his views so often it is nearly impossible to know where he stands on so many of the basic issues that impact Americans’ daily lives,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said at the start of the proceedings.

Kennedy seemed largely unwilling to break from Trump’s positions, but he did so at the only mention of climate change in the nearly three-hour hearing. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) asked Kennedy if he agrees with Trump’s false claim that climate change is a hoax originating in China. Kennedy replied that on the issue of climate change, he and Trump “agree to disagree.”

“I believe climate change is existential,” Kennedy said. “My job is to make Americans healthy again.”

Climate change already kills Americans every year through rising heat, floods, runaway wildfires, exacerbated air pollution and other impacts. It’s also linked to increased spread of infectious disease, rising risks of chronic illness and heightened pandemic risk. The World Health Organization estimated in 2023 that climate effects will cause an extra 250,000 deaths a year globally between 2030 and 2050.

Trump’s first acts as president included an executive order to withdraw the U.S. from the WHO and from the Paris climate accord.

Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer, was once celebrated as an environmental champion. He has since been denounced by many voices in the environmental movement due to his support of Trump—a climate skeptic and proponent of fossil fuel expansion—and continued espousal of unfounded claims, including that offshore wind development kills whales. Kennedy has also claimed that global attempts to curb the impacts of climate change are part of “pretext for clamping down totalitarian controls.”

Kennedy briefly brought up the connection between environmental toxicity and public health at two points in the hearing. He spoke about observing connections between human and environmental wellbeing while working as an attorney, and he expressed intentions to curb the use of chemicals that harm soil and microbiomes in agriculture. 

However, Kennedy did not say—nor was he questioned on—whether he would support Trump’s efforts to dismantle federal regulations on pollution and toxic exposure. The first Trump administration rolled back more than 100 environmental rules. 

There was also no discussion of Kennedy’s stance on the president’s attacks on environmental justice initiatives that seek to address pollution disparities by race and class that often cause worse health outcomes for poor communities and people of color.

Recent research has found that climate change is creating prime conditions for many human pathogenic diseases, including dengue and malaria, while threatening the vaccine supplies that fight them. Researchers noted that these impacts are exacerbated by growing anti-vaccination sentiment.

For years, Kennedy, who is not a medical professional, has been a leading voice in vaccine skepticism and has espoused conspiracy theories about vaccines. Throughout the hearing, though, he repeatedly stated that he is not against vaccinations, and that he is simply advocating for caution and a thorough scientific process.

“I support vaccines,” Kennedy said. “The only thing I want is good science, and that’s it.”

Republicans on the committee offered support for that characterization. “I don’t see how Mr. Kennedy’s position could be any more clear that he’s going to support the vaccines, he’s going to support the science and empower parents and their doctors to make these choices,” said Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), a doctor. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) raised concerns about the approximately $2.5 million that Kennedy received for consulting for, and referring clients to, a law firm that has filed lawsuits for people claiming injuries from the Gardasil vaccine, which is aimed at preventing diseases caused by human papillomavirus and has widely been deemed safe. Kennedy’s financial gain from the lawsuits has been criticized by ethics experts, and Warren asked Kennedy to confirm that he would not take money from lawsuits during his time as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services or for four years after. 

Kennedy said he would not take money from pharmaceutical companies, but he did not answer Warren’s question about taking money from such lawsuits.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) brought up an email reported by Stat News on Monday from Kennedy’s former campaign, which requested donations in celebration of Trump’s freeze on federal funding. Warner asked if Kennedy put out the email and supports the freeze, which would include research funding for the National Institutes of Health.

“I don’t think my campaign exists anymore,” Kennedy said. 

“Well, listen, I gotta tell you this, somebody is out there soliciting money for it—maybe you ought to find out who is,” Warner responded. 

When Warner pressed Kennedy to take a stance on the freeze of federal funds, citing critical health infrastructure that could get cut off, Kennedy sidestepped the question. He said only that Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are not included in the freeze and that he supports those programs. 

Experts have raised concerns that a funding freeze could jeopardize crucial climate and environmental interventions like disaster recovery programs, clean drinking water, affordable energy and conservation. The American Public Health Association was among the groups that sued to block the freeze, arguing the importance of its environmental justice programming in providing community-based public health interventions.

On Wednesday, the Office of Management and Budget rescinded the memo ordering the federal grants freeze, but the administration clarified that its executive orders pausing disbursement of federal funds are still “in full force and effect,” causing widespread confusion.

Kennedy’s confirmation hearing was briefly interrupted twice by protesters who seemed to speak up in opposition to his confirmation. When Kennedy first stated that he was not anti-vaccination, a protester shouted that he was lying, and was removed from the room. Kennedy faces another hearing Thursday before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, where he will face two Republicans who have broken from the party on other Trump nominees: Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

Cover photo:  Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies during his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing on Jan. 29 in Washington, D.C. Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images