Sen. Bill Cassidy, the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, concluded Thursday's hearing by saying he was "struggling" with the nomination due to Kennedy's vaccine positions. Kennedy notably refused to say vaccines don't cause autism as he faced pointed question from lawmakers.

Kennedy Jr. on Thursday struggled to answer questions about Medicare, refused to rule out a debunked link between autism and vaccines, and said he would entertain conspiracy theories about the Sept. 11,

The data is there,” GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy bluntly told the nominee for secretary of health and human services.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to be the nation’s top health official is uncertain after a key Republican joined Democrats to raise persistent concerns over the nominee’s deep skepticism of routine childhood vaccinations that prevent deadly diseases.

Kennedy also said gender-affirming care for children has "catastrophic" impacts and that children are not equipped to make judgments about receiving such care. He said he would re