Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is on shaky political ground after two days of contentious confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill failed to lock in enough Senate votes for him to become health and human services secretary.

The man who hopes to be President Donald Trump's health secretary said he needed to see data showing vaccines are safe, but when an influential Republican senator did so, he dismissed it.

The top Republican on the Senate's chief health committee, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., indicated Thursday that he was “struggling" to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his inability to admit vaccines are safe and don't cause autism.

R obert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s pick to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), was grilled by Democratic senators during his confirmation hearing on Jan. 29 and Jan. 30, who confronted him with conspiratorial and conflicting statements he has made about COVID-19.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, explains why he is concerned about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. becoming the next secretary of Health and Human Services.

Kennedy, a Democrat who ran as an independent but ended up supporting Trump in the 2024 presidential campaign, was grilled by senators over his views on vaccines, abortion, Medicaid and more during two days of confirmation hearings.

The longtime liberal faces deep skepticism over his public health views. “Frankly, you frighten people,” one Democratic senator told his former roommate.

President Trump’s nominee for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., faced pointed questions from Democrats on his stance on vaccines and other issues. WSJ’s Kristina Peterson breaks down his confirmation hearing performance.