Nicole Shanahan Plays Hardball as RFK Jr. Is Grilled

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared before the Senate Finance Committee for the first of two days of confirmation hearings Wednesday, and there was discord even before he had finished his opening statement. After Kennedy, President Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, said, "News reports complain that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. I am neither," a woman shouted, "He lies" and was escorted out of the room, the New York Times reports. More from the hearing:

• A "scathing rebuke." Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the committee, delivered what the Guardian calls a "scathing rebuke" of Kennedy in his own opening statement. "The receipts show that Mr. Kennedy has embraced conspiracy theories, quacks, and charlatans, especially when it comes to the safety and efficacy of vaccines," Wyden said. Echoing Kennedy cousin Caroline Kennedy's letter to senators, Wyden accused Kennedy of enriching himself by sowing doubt about vaccines.

• He won't take anybody's McDonald's away. As the hearing continued, Democrats attacked Kennedy's views on vaccines while Republicans asked "softball questions" about his views on health and nutrition, the Times reports. In response to a question from Sen. Mike Crapo, the committee's Republican chair, Kennedy called for research on food additives but said he didn't want to "take food away from anybody," CBS News reports. "If you like a ... McDonald's cheeseburger, Diet Coke, which my boss loves, you should be able to get them," he said.
• Abortion. Kennedy said he would implement whatever policy Trump chooses on the abortion pill mifepristone, the AP reports. "President Trump has asked me to study the safety of mifepristone," Kennedy said. "He has not yet taken a stand on how to regulate it. Whatever he does, I will implement those policies."

• Past statements brought up. Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet brought up some of Kennedy's most controversial past statements. "Did you say that Lyme disease is highly likely a materially engineered bioweapon?" he asked, per the Guardian. "I probably did say that," Kennedy said. He denied claiming that pesticides cause children to become transgender.
• A threat from Nicole Shanahan. "Bobby may play nice; I won't," Nicole Shanahan, his former running mate, said in a message to senators posted on X. Shanahan, who has a net worth of $1 billion, threatened to fund primary challenges against any senators who vote against confirming Kennedy, RealClearPolitics reports.

(More Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stories.)