January 31,2025

Wyden Slams RFK Jr.'s Failure to Answer Basic Questions on Vaccines

As Nominee Delivered Written Answers to Finance Ranking Member’s Questions, Trump Administration Took Down a Key CDC Webpage for Vaccine Information

Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued a statement after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. returned written answers to questions to committee members following his nomination hearing to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The statement comes as the Trump administration has begun to systemically disable federal web pages that it is ideologically opposed to, including a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) webpage that presented key vaccination information.

“I gave Mr. Kennedy a dozen opportunities to prove he would maintain any level of independence or integrity when it comes to vaccine science and availability — he refused,” Wyden said. “Mr. Kennedy’s insufficient responses, combined with tonight’s news that the Trump administration is censoring key vaccine information demonstrates that Mr. Kennedy is not interested in good science. He’s here to push his own agenda on American families whether they like it or not.”

The written answers to questions to the committee can be found here. While many of these important questions remain unanswered, the Trump administration abruptly pulled down ACIP’s vaccine recommendations from the CDC website on Friday night without explanation.

Perhaps no issue is more central to RFK Jr.’s nomination than vaccines. Throughout the nomination process, bipartisan members of the Senate Finance Committee have asked him serious questions about his views and how he would handle critically important decisions related to vaccines in his role as secretary. The stakes are high. If confirmed, RFK Jr.’s decisions related to vaccines could have serious health consequences for the American people, potentially even resulting in deaths, especially among young children, seniors, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable and immuno-compromised populations. 

RFK Jr. was asked pointed, “yes or no” questions on vaccine safety during the Finance Committee hearing, and he was given a second opportunity to provide written answers to questions for the record. Rather than providing meaningful answers to Finance Committee questions, RFK Jr. repeatedly provided copied-and-pasted, boilerplate non-responses.  

Specifically, RFK Jr. did not provide clear answers or details about his plans as secretary on the following critical issues:

  • Whether RFK Jr. believes vaccines cause Autism;
  • Whether RFK Jr. believes the following vaccines are safe and effective: (1) the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine; (2) the shingles vaccine; (3) the diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine; (4) the Hib vaccine; (5) the HPV vaccine; and (6) Hepatitis A and B vaccines–however, he did acknowledge that the polio vaccine is safe;
  • Whether RFK Jr. would seek withdrawal of any drug or vaccine currently on the market; 
  • Whether RFK Jr. would direct ACIP members to resign before the end of their term so he could pick their replacements;
  • Whether RFK Jr. would direct the CDC Director to unilaterally reject ACIP recommendations;
  • Whether RFK Jr. would commit to preserving the independence of federal vaccine research;
  • Whether RFK Jr. would commit to not forcing out career scientists and civil servants who do not share his views on vaccines; 
  • Whether RFK Jr. would support the CDC Director’s independent judgment in all ACIP decisions;
  • Whether RFK Jr. would support pausing production on vaccines which have been proven safe and effective;
  • Whether RFK Jr. would have any personal concerns about vaccine clinical trial designs that could result in the preventable death of a child if an existing vaccine were withheld;
  • Whether RFK Jr. would commit to upholding the childhood immunization schedule;
  • What changes RFK Jr. would consider making to the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP);
  • What evidence RFK Jr. needs to see in order to determine that a vaccine is safe and effective;
  • Whether RFK Jr. would commit to continuing the CDC’s Child and Adolescent Vaccination Schedule;
  • What aspects of FDA’s vaccine approval process RFK Jr. would change if confirmed;
  • Whether RFK Jr. believes ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine should be used to treat COVID instead of vaccines; and
  • Whether RFK Jr. believes nursing home residents should receive the flu vaccine annually.

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