Scoop: Senate Dems target GOP over vaccine rollbacks
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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. on Sept. 4 in Washington Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Senate Democrats on Tuesday will introduce a resolution condemning anti-vaccine policies Republicans are pursuing at the national and state level, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Democrats are putting pressure on Republican lawmakers to either support or rebuff the Florida officials' groundbreaking move to end all vaccine mandates — as well as the anti-vaccine policies Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is implementing.
- Democrats, led by Nevada's Jacky Rosen, will try to pass the resolution on the Senate floor Tuesday, we are told. Just one Republican could block the move — and one likely will.
- The resolution also condemns Kennedy's policies at HHS. In June, he removed all 17 members of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine panel.
- On Monday, Kennedy named five new members to his handpicked vaccine advisory panel just days ahead of a key meeting where the group will make recommendations for who should get COVID shots.
The big picture: Republican officials keep taking steps to roll back vaccine requirements, despite polling showing voters overwhelmingly support routine childhood shots.
- Florida officials earlier this month announced they would phase out all childhood vaccine mandates in the state.
- "Unfortunately, lies and conspiracies pushed by Secretary Kennedy and the Trump Administration are fueling reckless actions like Florida's extreme move to overturn commonsense vaccination guidelines — putting kids at risk of polio, smallpox, rubella, and other deadly diseases we've eradicated," Rosen told Axios in a statement.
Between the lines: Democrats are pressing on fault lines within the GOP over the efficacy of vaccines. Even President Trump publicly split with Kennedy on the matter earlier this month.
- "Pure and simple — they work," Trump said of vaccines this month. "They're not controversial at all. And I think those vaccines should be used."
- Sens. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) are co-sponsoring the resolution.
Go deeper: Scott breaks with DeSantis on Florida's vaccine rollback
