Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made claims during his Senate confirmation hearing on issues including vaccines, pesticides and Lyme disease. Some of them are missing context.

If approved, Kennedy will control a $1.7 trillion agency that oversees food and hospital inspections, hundreds of health clinics, vaccine recommendations and health insurance for roughly half the country.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced aggressive questions about his skepticism of vaccines and other issues during the first of two scheduled Senate confirmation hearings.

Caroline Kennedy, daughter of former President John F. Kennedy, warned senators of her “predator” cousin ahead of his first confirmation hearing on Wednesday. In a letter first reported by The Washington Post, she wrote that his victims included family members and parents of sick children.

In 2019, a devastating measles outbreak erupted in Samoa. Eighty-three people, most of them children, died. Another 5,000 contracted the disease, many of which suffer long-term damage as a result. In total, around 3% of the small island’s population fell ill.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said vaccines are not safe. His support for abortion access has made conservatives uncomfortable. And farmers across the Midwest are nervous over his talk of banning corn syrup and pesticides from America’s food supply.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is seeking the support of the Republican-controlled Senate in his bid to become the nation’s top health official.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was pressed to clarify his views on vaccines, abortion and public health priorities in the first of two senate hearings as he tries to make the case to become President Donald Trump’s health secretary.