President Donald Trump reportedly views Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and his passionate following among so-called Make American Healthy Again (MAHA) moms as a key asset in the 2026 midterms, betting that support for Kennedy’s health priorities will outweigh those alarmed by his efforts to scale back vaccine access.
This view, as Politico reports, is causing tension with some inside the Republican Party, who point to Americans’ general, though declining, support for vaccines.
“We’ve got to sort that out,” Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, himself a physician, told the outlet. “Polling shows Americans believe in vaccines.”
Others, however, see Kennedy’s stances as a boon for the party.
“Kennedy’s stance on health freedom, including vaccine policies, are an asset for Republicans,” Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar told Politico.
Polling from this year suggests over two-thirds of Americans support vaccinating children against preventable diseases such as measles and mumps, to attend school, with similar levels of overall support for vaccinating healthy children to protect against risks to others.
“The fact that states across the country, from Republican-run West Virginia to Democrat-run Colorado, have pushed MAHA legislation is proof that the MAHA movement that President Trump has spearheaded was, is, and will remain a driving force in American politics,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.
The Independent has contacted Health and Human Services for comment.
Some of those tensions within the GOP could be on display Wednesday in the Senate, when the ousted former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Susan Monarez, is questioned in the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that Cassidy chairs.
Monarez is reportedly set to tell the panel she was fired in August for “for holding the line on scientific integrity” on key questions including vaccines, according to testimony obtained by The New York Times.
A handful of other moderate Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, have also pointed to the firing and mass departure of CDC officials as alarming.
Cassidy, who provided a key vote to help confirm the vaccine-skeptical Kennedy on the condition he keep existing vaccines policies, has grown increasingly wary of the Trump administration official.
During a hearing earlier this month, Cassidy accused Kennedy — whose tenure has seen cuts to mRNA research, the replacement of outside immunization advisers with vaccine skeptics, and narrowed approval for Covid shots — of limiting access to vaccines.
“Effectively, we’re denying people vaccine,” Cassidy said, prompting an angry response from Kennedy who said, “You’re wrong.”
The Louisiana representative has also publicly lobbied Kennedy to support vaccines in the wake of a pertussis, or whooping cough, outbreak in his home state.
“In my state of Louisiana, we are experiencing the worst pertussis outbreak in 35 years. The outbreak has already killed two babies,” Cassidy wrote in an open letter Kennedy this month. “I want to work together to stop pertussis. Your strong public support for this vaccine will save lives.”
