During Tuesday's Senate Finance Committee hearing, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) questioned pending HHS Nominees about Secretary Kennedy's response to the measles outbreak.
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00:00Thank you. Senator Hassan. Well, thank you, Chairman Crapo and Ranking Member Wyden for this hearing.
00:05Thank you, Mr. O'Neill and Mr. Andres, for being here today. Congratulations on your nominations to both of you and your families.
00:13To both of you, if directed by the President to take action that would break the law, would you follow the law or follow the President's directive? Mr. O'Neill?
00:23Thank you for the question, Senator, and I really enjoyed our meeting in your office a few weeks ago.
00:26It is always important to follow the law, and the President would not ask me to break the law.
00:32Well, I'm glad you are willing to follow the law. The President just this week said he doesn't know that he has to follow the Constitution, so it does raise an issue.
00:41Mr. Andres? I agree that it's important to follow the law. I don't believe the President would ask me to break the law.
00:48Well, that defies credulity, I'm sorry to say, because he obviously already has, and he has just pardoned people who attacked police officers in the Capitol in January.
00:59Let's go to a question about HHS.
01:02Mr. O'Neill, since the President took office, this follows up on Senator Cassidy's line of questioning.
01:08Nearly 1,000 Americans have contracted measles, and two children have tragically died, the first child dying of measles in the United States in more than 20 years.
01:19Measles is almost entirely preventable with the measles vaccine, but Secretary Kennedy refuses to say clearly that the vaccine is the best and only way to protect our children from measles.
01:30Mr. O'Neill, do you think Secretary Kennedy is leading an effective response to the measles outbreak?
01:35Mr. Senator, thank you for the question.
01:39As you know, I strongly support the MMR vaccine.
01:43I've received it, so my children, I think it is safe and effective.
01:46Mr. Right, but do you believe, do you, I have limited time.
01:48Do you believe Secretary Kennedy's response is effective?
01:52Mr. Senator, he's been surveilling the measles situation.
01:55He has advocated parents get the MMR vaccine, and I completely agree with him on that.
02:00Mr. So you believe that children dying of measles for the first time in more than 20 years
02:05reflects an effective response by this administration?
02:09Mr. Senator, I don't know what is causing the current situation with measles,
02:13but the Secretary has advocated for the MMR vaccine, and I think he's completely correct to do so.
02:18So how many children would have to die of measles for you to characterize Secretary Kennedy's response as ineffective?
02:26Mr. Senator, he's been Secretary for a few months.
02:29The CDC has been surveilling disease outbreaks for decades.
02:34I think he's doing a good job, and I think...
02:37Well, let's, I appreciate that answer.
02:40Secretary Kennedy has repeatedly gone on television to promote unproven remedies.
02:46So you may say he's doing a good job, but he's affirmatively gone on television
02:50to promote unproven remedies, such as telling parents that vitamin A can lead to, quote,
02:56almost miraculous and instantaneous recovery, close quote, from measles.
03:01This claim is simply not true, and now doctors in Texas say they're treating children with liver damage
03:08from overdoses of vitamin A.
03:09If confirmed, will you ensure that medical professionals lead the department's medical guidance on measles
03:15instead of Secretary Kennedy?
03:17Senator, I'm not familiar with the study that you're citing.
03:21I'd be happy to read it.
03:22But absolutely, I think that both the department as well as physicians should always pursue
03:27the best and most rigorous science in all of the recommendations and treatments.
03:31So if Secretary Kennedy refuses to follow accepted medical guidance,
03:35which a lot of us think he is refusing to follow right now,
03:38as has happened time and time again,
03:41will the medical professionals get final say, or will Secretary Kennedy?
03:45Senator, physicians have a responsibility to make the best recommendations and decisions
03:51to their patients based on the best information that they have.
03:55They always have the responsibilities given to them by the states that license them.
03:59This is a different question, and I'm going to move on to another one in a minute.
04:03But this is about whether HHS is going to follow science
04:06and follow the advice of the medical professionals that work at HHS.
04:09I know very well what physicians are licensed to do at the state level in their practices.
04:14This is about whether Secretary Kennedy and you in your role will accept the medical,
04:22the best medical opinions and advice and guidance from the physicians and scientists who work at HHS.
04:28And I would suggest to you that Secretary Kennedy is not following that advice or those directives now.
04:34He's not following science, and he is doing grave harm.
04:38Now, I'm going to turn quickly in my last 24 seconds to the issue of the low-income home energy assistance program,
04:45also called LIHEAP, which was established more than four decades ago
04:49and helps more than 25,000 granite staters pay their heating bills.
04:53President Trump and Secretary Kennedy recently fired the entire staff who administered this program at HHS.
05:00And without LIHEAP, many seniors and families with children are at risk of not being able to afford heat
05:06during dangerously cold winters.
05:08Now, do you support Secretary Kennedy's decision to force seniors to choose between putting food on the table
05:15or heating in their homes?
05:17Senator, I had the pleasure of working with LIHEAP when I was at HHS in the Bush administration.
05:21I know that it's very hard to stay warm in the winter if you're on a limited income.
05:27But I was not involved in the decision to have rifts of people that work at LIHEAP,
05:34and I don't know what information or reasoning went into that decision.
05:37Well, I doubt there was much reasoning at all, which is the point.
05:40But will you urge the secretary to reverse his cuts to the LIHEAP program?
05:45Senator, if I'm confirmed, you could hold me responsible for all the activities of the entire department,
05:53including all the agencies and sub-offices.
05:56My view, my very strongly held view, is that if the department has made a mistake,
06:00it should correct the mistake promptly.
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