WASHINGTON \u2014 Five months after Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy invited Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to appear before the powerful health committee he chairs, the hearing has not happened, and the senator continues to say there is no date set for it to take place.<\/p>\n
Cassidy, a Louisiana doctor who is supportive of vaccines, publicly requested Kennedy testify before the Senate Health Committee on Sept. 18 for an oversight hearing to \u201cshare his side of the story\u201d after Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez was abruptly ousted<\/a> from her job. Monarez\u2019s lawyers said at the time that she was fired for refusing to \u201crubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts.\u201d<\/p>\n In a September press release<\/a> Cassidy wrote that, in the spirit of President Trump\u2019s mandate for \u201cradical transparency in government,\u201d he would use his committee to conduct \u201coversight\u201d of \u201crecent high-profile departures from the agency,\u201d including Monarez\u2019s. The hearing would aim at \u201cgiving Americans the full picture so they can judge for themselves.\u201d <\/p>\n Since that invitation, Cassidy has repeatedly said that a date for the hearing is being \u201cworked out.\u201d<\/p>\n Cassidy was the key vote in getting Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist, into his role as HHS secretary. The senator openly expressed concerns about Kennedy, particularly his vaccine skepticism, and said he was \u201cstruggling\u201d with the decision. But ultimately Cassidy supported him after Kennedy made several promises, including to meet with Cassidy \u201cregularly\u201d and appear before the health committee he chairs \u201con a quarterly basis, if requested.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about the status of the hearing on Thursday, Cassidy told NBC News, \u201cI just don\u2019t follow that. I know it\u2019s happening. I know it\u2019s working. Believe me, obviously there\u2019s the appearance of delay, but that\u2019s not what I\u2019m focused on,\u201d and said to check with his staff.<\/p>\n The same day, a member of Cassidy\u2019s staff told NBC News they had \u201cno update\u201d on if or when the hearing would occur. Meanwhile, multiple other Cabinet members have appeared for oversight hearings already this year.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Kennedy told NBC News in a statement: \u201cSecretary Kennedy continues to follow through on his commitments to Chairman Cassidy and engages with him and his staff on a regular and frequent basis. As part of those commitments, HHS accepted Chairman Cassidy\u2019s numerous recommendations for key roles at the agency, retained particular language on the CDC website, and adopted ACIP\u2019s recommendations. Secretary Kennedy talks to the chairman at a regular clip.\u201d<\/p>\n Cassidy\u2019s repeated public clashes and initial hesitation to support Kennedy have become a focal point of his re-election campaign, as he faces a Trump-endorsed primary challenger, Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La.<\/p>\n Before his confirmation, Kennedy had also assured Cassidy he would maintain the CDC\u2019s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) without changes. Yet, in June, Kennedy fired all 17 members of the ACIP and replaced them with members of his own choosing, including several known vaccine skeptics<\/a>. Cassidy immediately called<\/a> for the next ACIP meeting to be postponed until the panel gained \u201cmore robust and balanced representation.\u201d The meeting went ahead as scheduled.<\/p>\n Kennedy had also promised Cassidy that he would not remove statements on the CDC\u2019s website that vaccines do not cause autism. The site was rewritten in November<\/a> to suggest, without evidence, that health authorities \u201cignored\u201d possible links between the shots and autism. It maintained the statement that \u201cvaccines do not cause autism,\u201d but with an asterisk pointed directly at Cassidy, saying it had been left there \u201cdue to an agreement with the chair of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.\u201d<\/p>\n Cassidy was quick to denounce the revamped website and has been critical of Kennedy\u2019s overhaul<\/a> of the childhood vaccine schedule and the secretary\u2019s skepticism of the Covid vaccine. Though Kennedy has not taken up Cassidy on his invitation to testify before his health committee, the Louisiana Republican did get a chance to grill him<\/a> on his vaccine stance, Covid and CDC turmoil in a September oversight hearing in the Senate Finance Committee.<\/p>\n Kennedy testified<\/a> before Cassidy\u2019s panel once before, in May last year, where Cassidy said Kennedy had \u201clived up to\u201d his promises and largely avoided the issue of vaccines. <\/p>\n Kennedy ally Tony Lyons is supporting Cassidy\u2019s primary challenger and pledged $1 million through his \u201cMake America Healthy Again PAC\u201d to help Letlow defeat him before she even entered the race.<\/p>\n \u201cMAHA is all in for LETLOW!,\u201d the congresswoman posted on social media Tuesday.<\/p>\n In a memo obtained by NBC News sent to congressional Republican leadership and fundraisers, Lyons shared new polling and argued that Republicans need to embrace the MAHA agenda to increase their chances of winning in the 2026 midterm elections. <\/p>\n \u201cRepublicans who have failed to embrace the gift of the MAGA movement have had their political careers meet an untimely demise,\u201d Lyons wrote. <\/p>\n The memo was first obtained by Politico. <\/p>\n Cassidy has maintained a busy schedule on the health committee, holding 18 hearings since inviting Kennedy, with a focus on highlighting issues that are central to Trump\u2019s agenda. His most recent hearing was on \u201cpreventing fraud in child care assistance programs.\u201d<\/p>\n But Democrats have been critical of his delay in getting Kennedy to testify. \u201cFailure to conduct an oversight hearing on Secretary Kennedy\u2019s actions would be an abdication of our responsibility\u2014both from a moral perspective and as a matter of sound public health policy,\u201d Senate Health Committee Democrats wrote in a December letter<\/a>. <\/p>\n Since the start of the new year, Cassidy\u2019s fellow Senate chairmen have held oversight hearings featuring Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is set to come before the Judiciary Committee in March.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-760x428,f_auto,q_auto:best\/mpx\/2704722219\/2026_01\/1767829637672_nn_ath_new_dietary_guidelines_260107_1920x1080-vtcscy.jpg\")
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