Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has put Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) in a political bind, squeezed by his loyalty to President Trump and commitment to medicine.

Cassidy, the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, publicly wavered over Kennedy’s confirmation, sharply criticizing his views before eventually voting for him.

Cassidy said he secured a series of promises about vaccine safety, including for Kennedy to not undercut public confidence in vaccines.

“If Mr. Kennedy is confirmed, I will use my authority ... to rebuff any attempts to remove the public’s access to lifesaving vaccines without ironclad, causational scientific evidence that can be defended before the mainstream scientific community and before Congress,” Cassidy said on the Senate floor in February, just after he voted to advance Kennedy’s nomination out of committee.

Cassidy said Kennedy also pledged to keep in place a pivotal independent advisory panel on vaccine policy.

“If confirmed, [Kennedy] will maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) without changes,” Cassidy said.

On Monday, Kennedy fired the entire 17-member panel, arguing a “clean sweep” was needed to purge conflicts of interest and help restore trust in vaccinations........

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