Cassidy breaks with Trump on vaccines, says RFK Jr. broke commitments
Senate Republican chair says anti-vaccine messaging ties to measles deaths and warns GOP could pay political price.
What to know
- Sen. Bill Cassidy, a retiring Republican physician and Senate health committee chair, broke with the Trump administration over vaccine policy, linking it to measles outbreaks and child deaths.
- Cassidy says HHS Secretary RFK Jr. broke vaccine-related commitments made during his confirmation, leaving the senator angry at the broken guarantees.
- Cassidy warned that Republicans face electoral consequences if anti-vaccine messaging continues driving disease resurgence, saying the party could "do poorly in the polls" if the situation becomes severe.
- Cassidy declined to state whether he would support Trump's FDA nominee Heidi Overton, saying only that there will be a Senate hearing on her nomination.
“If the American people are seeing that concerted efforts to undermine faith in immunization is leading to children dying from diseases that they haven't died from in decades… this is not making America healthy again.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy, Senate Health Committee chair · Semafor ↗ · Sep 14
Sen. Bill Cassidy Senate Health Committee chair (R-La.)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. HHS SecretaryHeidi Overton Trump's FDA nominee
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesvideospostscomments
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Cassidy declines to back Trump's FDA nominee Heidi Overton
When asked whether he would support Trump's nomination of Heidi Overton to lead the Food and Drug Administration, Cassidy declined to offer an opinion, saying only that "I think there will be a hearing" on her nomination.
“This is not making America healthy again. This is making America die from diseases that we never died from before, at least not in decades.”
— Sen. Bill Cassidy, Senate Health Committee chair · source -
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Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) on Wednesday said the nation’s worst measles outbreak in the United States in 35 years is “going to be a terrible legacy for this administration,” citing recent deaths in Pennsylvania.
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Cassidy grandstanding to minimise his own avoidable legacy of enabling anti-vaxxers, as if to demonstrate what he might have looked like with a spine. — ‘His remarks come as the US grapples with its worst measles outbreak in over three decades. “To suffer from any disease is awful, but to suffer one which is avoidable, that’s even worse,” Cassidy…
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It's HIS legacy. I sincerely hope he understands that.
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Cassidy warns Republicans will face electoral consequences over disease resurgence — Cassidy said that if the public sees anti-vaccine policies leading to deaths from preventable diseases, Republicans will lose support at the ballot box, warning that the party could "do poorly in the polls" if the situation becomes "a big deal."
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Cassidy says RFK Jr. broke vaccine commitments made during confirmation — Cassidy acknowledged that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. broke commitments on vaccines he made to the Louisiana Republican during his confirmation process, leaving Cassidy angry at the broken guarantees.
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Cassidy attacks Trump vaccine policies at health forum — At Semafor's Future of Health Forum, Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician and chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, expressed outrage at the spike in measles cases and kids dying from measles, tying it to the administration's vaccine policies and messaging.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by The Hill, 7d ago · also MS NOW, Joe.My.God., Washington Post
4 more headlines
- GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy calls measles outbreak a ‘terrible legacy’ for the Trump administration MS NOW · 7d ago
- Bill Cassidy: Measles Will Be Trump's “Terrible Legacy” Joe.My.God. · 7d ago
- Sen. Cassidy: Measles Surge ‘Terrible Legacy’ for Trump NewsMax.com · 6d ago
- Sen. Cassidy says measles surge will be administration’s ‘terrible legacy’ washingtonpost.com · 6d ago
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first by Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7d ago · also Guardian, Al Jazeera, Reuters
2 more headlines
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first by semafor.com, 8d ago · also Semafor, Yahoo
1 more headline
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first by The Washington Sun, 7d ago · also Politico
1 more headline
- Bill Cassidy urges FDA nominee to reject Trump’s vaccine claim Politico · 3d ago
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first by CBS News, 3d ago
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and 1 smaller piece
What people are saying 21 voices from 2 sites · best of 102 · verbatim
- Sep 20
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"The vaccines are safe." Sen. Bill Cassidy says President Trump needs to be "radically honest" on vaccines amid measles outbreak.
- Sep 17
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And I blame Republican Senator Bill Cassidy for measles deaths in Pennsylvania and everywhere else. He had ample opportunity to block RFK Jr.’s confirmation but he told Senator Tillis, and I quote, to “see how it plays out”. Well, Cassidy, how is this playing out for ya? Republican senator blames Trum...
- Sep 16
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If only there had been a medical doctor in the senate that could have stopped the nomination of a grossly unqualified political hack to the HHS secretary
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His legacy. Cassidy’s. It is all on him.
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Cassidy was the deciding vote to approve Kennedy.
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If only he had been in a position to do something about it.
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GOP Health committee chair Bill Cassidy said fatal outbreak of measles is a ‘terrible legacy’ for Trump administration Sen Bill Cassidy said 3 people in Pennsylvania died of measles, with a 4th death under review, because of misinformation & misguided policies. #Blues
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Health committee chair Bill Cassidy said fatal outbreak of disease is a ‘terrible legacy’ for Trump administration
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Republican senator who voted to confirm RFKJr blames Trump for his own voting https://www. theguardian.com/us-news/2026/s ep/16/republican-senator-bill-cassidy-blames-trump-administration-measles-deaths-pennsylvania
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If he thinks the return of measles is the marquee disaster for Trump, his sycophants & GOP Congressmen who OKed his horrific appointments, didn’t stop a war, join w/ Rep. Green to impeach him, etc. he doesn’t have a clue what is happening IRL, where safety nets are fraying & people are dying while
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This is the same guy who voted to confirm RFK Jr, correct?
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Come. On. Cassidy gave the deciding thumbs up vote out of the committee he chairs. Kennedy wld not have been given a full vote/confirmation had he voted NO. GOP own the assault on this country and our lives. Cassidy has special ownership here. This outrage and blame is so ludicrously beyond absurd.
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Look. In. The. Mirror. Senator. Then shut up. You voted to confirm. On February 4, 2025, you stood on the senate floor and made a speech in support of Rfk Jr. And you’re a doctor.
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What obituary, at the rate he's going he gets a trivia question.
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This man has absolutely ZERO self awareness—ZERO.
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YES. We all knew what RFK Jr would do if confirmed. Cassidy was in the position to stop the confirmation and he didn’t. He failed at a basic job duty.
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We can lay a lot of the responsibility right at your feet, Mr. Vote to Approve.
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This is Sen. Cassidy’s legacy. 2nd paragraph of his obituary.
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I think he’s a little confused about whose legacy this will really be.
- Sep 15
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At Semafor’s Future of Health Forum, Cassidy — a former physician and chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee — expressed outrage at the spike in measles cases and instances of “kids dying from measles,” tying it to the administration’s policies and messaging on vaccination.
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🟡 NEW: Sen. Bill Cassidy sharply criticized the Trump administration’s handling of vaccines: "This is not making America healthy again"