WASHINGTON —  Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has pledged to “make America healthy again” as President Trump’s secretary of Health and Human Services, faced aggressive questions Wednesday from senators who were troubled by his skepticism of vaccines, embrace of debunked medical claims, financial conflicts of interest and 11th-hour changes on issues such as abortion rights.

Kennedy portrayed himself as an advocate for regular folks who feel outgunned by entrenched interests.

“In my advocacy, I’ve often disturbed the status quo by asking uncomfortable questions,” the Brentwood resident said. “Well, I’m not going to apologize for that. We have massive health problems in this country that we must face honestly, and the first thing I’ve done every morning for the past 20 years is to get on my knees and pray to God that he would put me in a position to end the chronic disease epidemic and to help America’s children.”

He was met with tough questions, especially from Democrats, but also from some Republicans.

“The receipts show that Mr. Kennedy has embraced conspiracy theories, quacks and charlatans, especially when it comes to the safety, the efficacy of vaccines,” Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Finance Committee, said in the opening minutes of the hearing.

“He has made it his life’s work to sow doubt and discourage parents from getting their kids life-saving vaccines,” Wyden said. “It has been lucrative for him and put him on the verge of immense power. This is the profile of someone who chases money and influence wherever they lead, even if that means the tragic deaths of children and other vulnerable people.”

In his testimony, Kennedy frequently contradicted his past positions, appeared to not fully grasp details of major health programs he will be charged with running if confirmed and said that allegations he is a conspiracy theorist have been leveled against him because of his willingness to challenge conventional scientific wisdom.

“That is a pejorative … that’s applied to me mainly to keep me from asking difficult questions of powerful interests,” said Kennedy, 71, the son of former Atty. Gen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy.

Wednesday’s hearing was the first of two for senators to consider Kennedy’s nomination to lead a sprawling federal health bureaucracy with a $1.8-billion budget and 90,000 employees. The Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health fall under the department’s umbrella. A committee vote on whether to advance the nomination to the full Senate has not yet been scheduled, and his chances for confirmation remain unclear.

Kennedy’s wife, actor Cheryl Hines, and other family members sat behind him during the 3½-hour session. A few hundred people crowded the chamber, mostly Kennedy supporters who wore T-shirts from his unsuccessful 2024 presidential bid and “Make America Healthy Again” baseball caps.

But there were some opponents, two of whom were ejected from the Senate committee hearing room after interrupting the proceedings. One screamed, “He lies!” and the other waved a sign that read “Vaccines save lives.” Members of the crowd yelled, “We love you, Bobby!” as the latter was led out by Capitol Police officers.

Many of the senators’ questions focused on Kennedy’s past skepticism of vaccines. After being a lauded environmental attorney, Kennedy served for several years as the chair of Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that falsely claims childhood vaccines cause autism.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) displayed pictures of organic infant onesies sold by the group for $25.99 that read “Unvaxxed, Unafraid” and “No vax. No problem,” then pressed Kennedy to disavow them.

Kennedy responded that he had no control over the organization, which he recently left. “I’m supportive of vaccines,” he said.

Earlier, Kennedy argued that news reports about his views on vaccines were misleading, noting that all of his children were vaccinated, and said that he supported the childhood vaccination schedule.

“The only thing I want is good science,” he said.

But his purported role in a deadly outbreak of measles in Samoa was raised frequently during the hearing.

The outbreak was prompted by the deaths of two children who received vaccines prepared with an expired muscle relaxant instead of water. The Samoan government halted vaccinations for 10 months while it investigated. During that period, Kennedy visited Samoa and met with prominent anti-vaccine activists and engaged in “a significant disinformation campaign” that undermined confidence in the measles shots, Alec Ekeroma, the country’s director general of health, told the Guardian.

By the time the outbreak ended, more than 5,700 people had been sickened by measles and 83 of them died. Nearly all of them were infants, toddlers and children under the age of 5.

Kennedy, who sent a letter to the Samoan prime minister urging him to investigate whether the vaccines themselves could have caused the illnesses, said Wednesday he had no role in the outbreak.

On Wednesday, Kennedy expressed his support for the measles vaccine, as well as the polio vaccine, potentially an attempt to win the support of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who suffered from the disease as a child.

Kennedy tried to focus his remarks on issues where there is broad agreement, such as nutrition and substance abuse.

Senators expressed support for Kennedy’s goal of improving the quality of food available through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Currently, the program can be used to buy snack foods such as potato chips and sugary sodas.

Kennedy blamed the nation’s worsening health in part on the rise of “highly chemical-intensive processed foods.” He noted that items such as French fries and breakfast cereals contain more ingredients in the U.S. than in other countries and said, without evidence, that scientists have made “a deliberate choice not to study the things that are truly making us sick.”

“We need to fix our food supply,” he said.

During an exchange about mental health and substance abuse, Kennedy mentioned his well-known 14-year heroin addiction — an issue that resonates with Americans grappling with the fentanyl crisis and in the aftermath of the opioid crisis.

Caroline Kennedy, a former Democratic ambassador and the daughter of John. F. Kennedy, touched upon her cousin’s drug use in a letter released Tuesday arguing against his confirmation.

In addition to describing his earlier abodes as drug dens that led other family members into addiction, she blasted Kennedy for his views on vaccines, said he is addicted to power and described disturbing scenes where he would use a blender to mince chickens and mice to feed his hawks. The letter was first reported by the Washington Post.

The nominee was a Democrat for decades before unsuccessfully running for president as an independent in 2024. He dropped out of the race in August and endorsed Trump, a man he had previously described as “probably a sociopath.”

Senators on both sides of the aisle sought to use Kennedy’s past liberal positions to their advantage.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) thanked Kennedy for his environmental and children’s health advocacy and recalled when Kennedy called him to discuss working with Trump about a shared goal — addressing the root causes of chronic illnesses, which afflict 60% of Americans.

“We need to get to the answers of this, but even more, we need to heal and unify this divided nation,” Johnson said. “I thought, wow, here’s somebody from the left, somebody I don’t agree with on many issues politically, coming together with President Trump, and focusing on an area of agreement, something that the American people desperately want.”

Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi shakes hands with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during his 2019 visit.

(Misiona Simo/Samoa Observer via Associated Press)

Democrats highlighted Kennedy’s public support for abortion rights to needle their GOP colleagues.

“It is remarkable that you have such a long record of fighting for women’s reproductive freedom, and it’s really great that my Republican colleagues are so open to voting for a pro-choice HHS secretary,” Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) said.

Kennedy was peppered with questions about his ability to work for a president who has already taken steps to restrict abortion access. He replied by pointing to disagreements about the issue in his large Catholic family.

“I came from a family that was split on life and choice. I have cousins today who believe that abortion at any stage is equivalent to homicide,” Kennedy said. “Now there are other people who believe the opposite. But the good thing with my family that I really loved is that we were able to have those conversations and respect each other, and I wish that we could do that nationally.”

Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Assn., said after the hearing that he was troubled by Kennedy’s lack of experience in both healthcare and management, and that the nominee didn’t seem to understand the difference between the Medicaid program and the exchanges where people can shop for insurance plans.

“He hasn’t given me any confidence that he follows the evidence of science,” said Benjamin, who previously served as secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.