The pressure is on Cassidy
Presented by The Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance
With Daniel Payne
Driving The Day
THE 'KEY' TO KENNEDY'S CONFIRMATION — President Donald Trump's nominee to lead HHS spent two days in confirmation hearings this week to convince senators to vote in his favor, and now all eyes are on one Republican who could be the deciding vote: Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy.
'Cassidy is the key to this,' one person working to defeat Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination to lead HHS, granted anonymity to speak freely, told our Adam Cancryn.
Cassidy, a gastroenterologist who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, gave Kennedy numerous chances on Thursday to disavow his prior claims that vaccines cause autism, I report with Daniel and Lauren Gardner.
Kennedy repeatedly declined and instead said if he were shown data proving that vaccines don't cause autism, he'd 'absolutely' agree and 'apologize for any statement that misled people.'
Nearing the end of the hearing, Cassidy returned to the question, reading the title of a study that found no link between vaccines and autism.
Cassidy seemed to plead with Kennedy to renounce his past claims: 'Convince me,' Cassidy said.
But Kennedy declined. 'You and I can meet about it,' he said — adding that he would bring his own studies, some of which show 'the opposite.'
Cassidy concluded the hearing by saying, 'I've got to figure that out for my vote' and telling Kennedy he may reach out to him over the weekend.
'It's not that often you see that kind of anguish on the part of a member of Congress,' the Kennedy opponent told Adam.
Why it matters: Cassidy sits on the Senate Finance Committee, which will vote to decide whether Kennedy's nomination goes to the Senate floor.
Some of Cassidy's Republican colleagues appeared to go to bat for Kennedy during the hearing in efforts to convince Cassidy to support him.
Kentucky Republican Rand Paul argued that, in some cases, government guidance on vaccination was debatable, citing the recommendation that all infants receive the hepatitis B vaccine and that children and healthy, young people get Covid-19 shots. 'You're not going to let [Kennedy] have the debate because you're just going to criticize and say, 'It is this, and admit to it or we're not going to appoint you.''
Calley Means, a Kennedy ally, posted on X about Paul's 'impassioned plea' to Cassidy, 'a man I know cares deeply about public health and American patients.'
'We are at a GENERATIONAL fork in the road to RESTORE TRUST in science. That is the promise of MAHA,' Means said.
Dr. Robert Redfield, former CDC director during the first Trump administration, sent a letter to Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), urging a vote in support of Kennedy.
'Kennedy has criticized me in the past, as I am a strong advocate for vaccines,' Redfield wrote. 'But I also believe Kennedy is not anti-vaccine. He wants transparency in the development of vaccines and honest discussion of the data to show safety and efficacy.'
WELCOME TO FRIDAY PULSE. And just like that … this long, long month of January is finally (almost) over. Send your tips, scoops and feedback to ccirruzzo@politico.com and follow along @ChelseaCirruzzo.
In Congress
FIRST IN PULSE: DOC PAY FIX COMES TOGETHER — A bipartisan group of House members is offering a plan to fix the Medicare pay cut to doctors that went into effect this year after Congress declined to stop it, Daniel reports.
The plan would effectively boost pay to eliminate the cut by 6.62 percent for the rest of the year— and provide extra payment to address inflation and offset the deficit from the cut in the first part of the year.
Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.), a urologist, plans to introduce the bill with a group of bipartisan lawmakers, several of them also doctors.
Though the plan is set to be introduced as legislation today, its provisions will likely be pushed by the lawmakers for a must-pass government funding package in March.
Why it matters: Mitigating Medicare pay cuts is a top priority for health providers, especially those struggling financially. Medicare pay to doctors decreased by 2.8 percent beginning in January, and the government estimates that the cost of practicing medicine will rise by 3.6 percent this year.
The proposal's bipartisan backing also comes as Democratic clinicians in Congress consider how they might organize to advance shared goals.
Planning to introduce the bill with Murphy are Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), John Joyce (R-Pa.), Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), Kim Schrier (D-Wash.), Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.), Ami Bera (D-Calif.), Carol Miller (R-W.Va.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.).
ANTI-ABORTION GROUPS ACCEPT KENNEDY — After two days of hearings, many anti-abortion groups feel confident that HHS secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — former Democrat and one-time abortion-rights supporter — will carry out their agenda, POLITICO's Alice Miranda Ollstein reports.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said Thursday they're 'encouraged' by promises Kennedy made to hire anti-abortion staff at HHS, scrutinize regulations around abortion pills, halt support for medical research using fetal tissue and cut funding to organizations that provide or refer for the procedure.
Democratic senators' attempt to sway their GOP colleagues against Kennedy by citing his past comments supporting abortion access and opposing government restrictions doesn't appear to have been successful.
Another anti-abortion group, the Human Coalition, said after the Thursday Senate HELP hearing that they are 'ready to work' with Kennedy 'to protect innocent children in the womb.'
One conservative group — Advancing American Freedom, co-founded by former Vice President Mike Pence — is urging senators to vote no on Kennedy over his abortion record.
'CLEAR AS MUD' — HHS nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he has given away his rights to gain from a lawsuit challenging the HPV vaccine, but one senator and some ethics experts aren't buying it, Lauren reports.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) questioned Kennedy on Thursday about a line in his ethics form stating that he's 'entitled to receive 10 percent of fees awarded in contingency fee cases referred to' Wisner Baum, the personal injury law firm leading litigation against Merck, the drugmaker behind the HPV vaccine Gardasil. Kennedy has profited from a consulting deal with the firm.
Kennedy told the panel that he's 'given away all of my rights to any fees in that lawsuit.'
But ethics experts questioned his assertion after reviewing language in his agreement pertaining to his business relationship with Wisner Baum.
'This section of the ethics agreement is clear as mud,' said Kathleen Clark, a law professor and ethics expert at Washington University in St. Louis.
In the agreement, Kennedy pledged to divest his interest in payments from Wisner Baum involving claims against the U.S. — including cases filed at the federal vaccine court that's the first venue for cases claiming injuries from childhood vaccines like Gardasil.
But he also said he would 'irrevocably assign my right to receive payment in all contingency fee cases in which the United States is a party or has a direct and substantial interest to a non-dependent, adult family member' before taking office.
Kennedy spokesperson Katie Miller said the nominee 'personally isn't retaining the fees' linked to the Gardasil lawsuits.
Kennedy's agreement also says he can receive a fee in cases that the HHS ethics board determines doesn't involve the U.S.
The U.S. isn't a defendant in the Gardasil lawsuits, raising questions about Kennedy's statements.
'RFK Jr.'s ethics agreement does not state that he has 'given away all of his rights to any fees' in any lawsuit,' Clark said.
Wisner Baum didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of Kennedy's agreement with the firm.
Public Health
THE PUSH TO AX FLUORIDE IN FLORIDA — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s campaign against adding fluoride to drinking water has gained traction, particularly in one state that's taken steps to make it a reality, POLITICO's Arek Sarkissian reports.
In Florida, at least 11 municipalities have stopped or plan to stop supplementing their water supply with the mineral, which already occurs naturally in water. Those measures are partly because of the state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, who has taken a staunch stance against fluoridation.
It's also thanks to Stand for Health Freedom, an Indiana-based medical advocacy group that's been trying to end fluoride use in Florida for almost two years. Kennedy and the group have cited studies showing the risk of children suffering from lower IQs and increased behavioral problems.
Ladapo and Stand for Health Freedom insist they're not working together to stop cities from adding fluoride to water supplies. However, many of Ladapo's appearances — where he promoted removing fluoride — were before governing boards that have been long targeted by the libertarian-leaning group.
Ladapo declined to answer questions POLITICO emailed him on Jan. 24.
Names in the News
Dawn O'Connell is now a Menschel Senior Leadership Fellow at Howard University. She previously was HHS assistant secretary for preparedness and response.
WHAT WE'RE READING
STAT reports on an ebola case in Uganda.
The Washington Post reports on how Sen. Mitch McConnell's childhood polio may impact how he votes on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
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