| It all came down to Bill Cassidy. The Louisiana Republican senator and medical doctor had said last week that he was “struggling” with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to head the Department of Health and Human Services due to past questioning of vaccine safety. If Cassidy had joined all the Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee who voted no, the nomination wouldn’t automatically go to the Senate for a full vote. In the end, Cassidy did vote to let Kennedy’s nomination proceed. But it sure looked like a torturous journey for this senator who’d sworn the Hippocratic Oath. Over the course of two hearings on Kennedy’s qualifications, Cassidy pressed again and again to get Kennedy to say that vaccines aren’t linked to autism. Kennedy refused. Cassidy, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, spoke about his own experiences with treating vaccine-preventable disease. He pointed to a study of 1.25 million children that concluded the measles vaccine has no association with autism. He expressed concern that if Kennedy’s actions caused even one vaccine-preventable death, it would “cast a shadow” on President Donald Trump’s legacy.  Bill Cassidy Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg Cassidy was under a lot of pressure to vote “yes.” Right before Tuesday’s vote, Trump posted on social media “We need BOBBY!!!” Other Republicans made veiled threats. In a speech on the Senate floor following the vote, Cassidy said he had fielded hundreds of calls, texts and emails both personally and to his office all weekend. Some of those calls were from Kennedy and the Trump administration attempting to win him over. In the end, Cassidy said that he was able to cast a vote for Kennedy after the nominee promised to cooperate on areas that concerned him. These included looping him in HHS hiring decisions, and testifying in front of the HELP committee once a quarter, if called upon. He was told HHS will give a 30-day notice if it tries to reform public vaccine guidance, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will keep language denying that vaccines cause autism on its website. In addition, if confirmed, Cassidy said Kennedy will not change the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, an independent body that sets vaccine schedules and recommendations. Plus Cassidy or someone from HELP will be allowed to choose a representative on any vaccine safety review board that is created. Cassidy added that he would use his position as HELP chairman to “rebuff any attempt to remove the public’s access to lifesaving vaccines without iron-clad, causational, scientific evidence that can be accepted and defended before the mainstream scientific community and before Congress.” The Senator got his assurances — and his spotlight. In return, he indicated he would not be a holdout when Kennedy’s nomination eventually heads to the Senate floor. — Jessica Nix | 
