GOP Sen. Cassidy, facing primary challengers, proceeds cautiously on CDC and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy’s support was crucial to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation as Health and Human Services secretary. With firings and resignations at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now prompting concern about a leadership breakdown at the nation’s leading public health agency, the Louisiana lawmaker and physician is in a tight spot. The two-term senator has worried aloud about “serious allegations” at the CDC and has called for oversight, without blaming Kennedy. The tension underscores competing pressures: A senator with oversight responsibility for a massive federal agency and a Republican seeking reelection next year. Cassidy, who voted to convict Donald Trump after his 2021 impeachment trial, already has a cool relationship with the president.