Contentious hearings to consider Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services this week have shined a spotlight on some of Washington’s most powerful lobbies.
Senators aiming critical questions at Kennedy this week found their contributions from the health care industry and their personal investments in the pharmaceutical industry and companies that make highly processed food being spotlighted on X to millions of views. The dynamic has pitted Kennedy’s legion of online supporters against senators critical of Kennedy’s skepticism of vaccines.
At a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing Thursday, several senators directly addressed the popular support of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement.
Senate HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a Republican, was highly critical of Kennedy’s prior statements about the measles vaccine and Hepatitis B vaccine, but conceded that his phone “blows up” with his supporters.
As the hearing concluded Thursday, Cassidy said that he was struggling with whether to vote to confirm Kennedy.
“My responsibility is to learn, to try to understand if you can be trusted to support the best public health: A worthy movement called MAHA to improve the health of Americans, or to undermine it, always asking for more evidence and never accepting the evidence that is there,” Cassidy said. “That’s my dilemma, man. So you may be hearing from me over the weekend.”
Meanwhile, Kennedy and his supporters have raised questions about the corrupting influence of political contributions from the health care industry on the confirmation process.
“Our kids are getting sicker and sicker. All of the people here who are defending this current system, and defending these pharmaceutical profits, are taking huge amounts of money from the pharmaceutical industry,” Kennedy said Thursday. “This is not making our country healthier. It’s making our country sicker. We need to get rid of these conflicts.”
There has been particular scrutiny on the drugmaker money that has accrued to members of the committees that oversee many health issues — the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate HELP Committees.
The nonpartisan watchdog group OpenSecrets has tracked the top donors to the members of these committees, both their campaign committees and leadership PACs, over the past five years. The figures include both donations from individuals in each of those industries and corporate PACs. They show that, even when only considering recent election cycles, the committees have a major conflict of interest.
Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden of Oregon, a Democrat, has received $749,316 from health professionals, $652,004 from insurers, $539,242 from health services and HMOs and $502,063 from the pharmaceutical industry between 2019 to 2024. His top donors include the insurers Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Centene Corporation.
Cassidy received $1,623,298 from health professionals and $996,737 from the pharmaceutical industry from 2019 to 2025, according to OpenSecrets.
Cassidy’s top donors include Ochsner Health System, a health system based in Louisiana.
Even Democrats who have been critical of the pharmaceutical industry in the past found their health care donations under scrutiny.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts expressed concern Wednesday that Kennedy’s lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies could “bankrupt” vaccine manufacturers.
Warren has received $498,074 from health professionals, $126,056 from the pharmaceutical industry and $109,065 from hospitals and nursing homes over the same period. Massachusetts is home to Moderna, the manufacturer of an mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, which was just awarded a $590 million by Biden’s HHS to combat H5N1.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an Independent, has received $115,690 from the pharmaceutical industry and $159,233 from the food and beverage industry.
Kennedy called out Sanders’s contributions from individuals in the pharmaceutical industry during his 2020 presidential run, amounting to $1,417,633, making him a top recipient of the industry’s donations.
“The problem of corruption is not just in the federal agencies. It’s in the Congress too. Almost all the members of this panel, including yourself, are accepting millions of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry and protecting their interests,” Kennedy said.
“I ran for president like you. I got millions and millions of contributions. They did not come from the executives, not one nickel of PAC money from the pharmaceutical industry. They came from workers,” Sanders said.
Democrats and Republicans alike who are skeptical of Kennedy’s nomination have seen their donations scrutinized.
Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the ranking member of the Senate HELP Committee, received $776,760 from the pharmaceutical industry, $674,934 from health professionals and $270,319 from health services and HMOs.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine has received $675,461 from health professionals, $426,145 from hospitals and nursing homes and $315,798 from the pharmaceutical industry.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has received $421,580 from health professionals, $147,727 from the pharmaceutical industry, and $157,493 from the food and beverage industries.
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia has received $579,094 from health professionals, $452,276 from the pharmaceutical industry and $244,269 from hospitals and nursing homes.
Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia has received $379,886 from health professionals, $340,090 from hospitals and nursing homes, and $306,632 from the pharmaceutical industry.
Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada has received $1,646,670 from health professionals, $630,475 from the pharmaceutical industry and $544,517 from health services and HMOs.
However, the influence of the health care and food and beverage industries is pervasive, and senators who support Kennedy’s nomination have received contributions from those industries too.
For instance, Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee was among Washington’s top recipients of the pharmaceutical industry from 2023 to 2024.
Yet Blackburn at the Senate Finance Committee hearing Wednesday said that she strongly supported Kennedy.
“It’s time to confirm RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary. He is ready to MAHA,” she said.
In addition, recent financial disclosures show that members of the committees that oversee health issues, including Kennedy’s confirmation, have investments that could be impacted by the aims of the “Make America Health Again” movement.
A recent disclosure by Wyden shows his spouse owns stock valued at $50,000 to $100,000 in Restaurant Brands International Inc. which owns American fast food restaurant chains including Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, and an investment worth between $15,001 to $50,000 in Starbucks. She also has an investment worth between $1,001 and $15,000 in Pfizer.
Collins’s spouse also owns a number of stocks in industries that could see new rules if Kennedy were to be confirmed, each worth between $15,000 and $50,000: EcoLab Inc.; The Hershey Company; Johnson & Johnson; Merck & Co.; and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.
Warner has invested between $1 million to $5 million in Health Velocity Capital I, LP, a hedge fund that invests in health care technology and between $250,000 and $500,000 in Health Velocity II, LP, venture capital fund managed by Health Velocity Capital.
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