On Feb. 4, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), the first physician to chair the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, took to the floor of the Senate to explain what he claims are the agreements he reached with RFK, Jr., in exchange for a yes vote on his confirmation as HHS secretary. (Cassidy does not support Kennedy’s anti-vaccine activism.)
According to Cassidy:
• RFK, Jr., will have multiple meetings every month with Cassidy.
• Cassidy will help hire for health agencies.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will not remove statements on their website pointing out the repeatedly demonstrated finding that vaccines do not cause autism.
• HHS will not use “sue and settle” techniques to change policies without Congress. (This technique has some sort of group sue a government agency, which then reaches a settlement with the plaintiffs that had been pre-arranged.)
• A 30-day notice must be given to the Committee if HHS plans to make changes to any of the federal vaccine safety monitoring programs, and the committee can review it.