Political analysts and observers piled on as a Senate Republican offered "empty words" over President Donald Trump's health secretary after he made a move that the lawmaker warned would cause "unnecessary fear" among doctors.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), a physician by trade, issued a stark statement after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s agency issued a revised pediatric vaccine schedule on Monday. The new schedule reduces the number of recommended vaccines for children from 17 to 11 and restricts them to rotavirus, hepatitis A and B, meningitis, and seasonal flu.
In a post on X, Cassidy stressed that the new schedule is "not a mandate."
"It’s a recommendation giving parents the power," Cassidy posted. "Changing the pediatric vaccine schedule based on no scientific input on safety risks and little transparency will cause unnecessary fear for patients and doctors, and will make America sicker."
Analysts and observers forcefully pushed back on Cassidy's statement.
"Why did you vote for RFK JR. Are you equally inept as a Doctor as you are a congressman? Dummy," media personality Bruce Crossing posted on X.
"Impeach and remove RFK Jr," conservative analyst Bill Kristol posted on X.
"These are empty words until Billy boy here decides to use the power he holds to force change," West Virginia Democrat Timothy Bellman posted on X.
As a doctor who treated patients for decades, my top priority is protecting children and families. Multiple children have died or were hospitalized from measles, and South Carolina continues to face a growing outbreak. Two children have died in my state from whooping cough. All…
— U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (@SenBillCassidy) January 5, 2026