RFK Jr. would also have the power, along with the FDA commissioner, to slow down or hamper the process by which new vaccines are evaluated, approved, and recommended. That could discourage pharmaceutical companies from developing new or reformulated vaccines.

In one of his most controversial Cabinet picks, President-elect Donald Trump said he would nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Here, we summarize our past work fact-checking Kennedy's claims about health and science.

Cassidy is not alone. The Independent spoke to many of the Republican senators who are doctors and would be responsible for confirming Kennedy, and specifically asked them about his promotion of the debunked theory that vaccines cause autism. Almost uniformly, they did not want to speak about Kennedy’s promotion of health misinformation.