Barrasso joins GOP critics, Democrats in pressing RFK Jr. on vaccines

FROM WYOFILE: 

Until Thursday, ‘Wyoming’s Doctor’ had been silent on the CDC’s implosion.

Until Thursday, Wyoming U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, a physician and the Senate’s second-ranking Republican, had been silent on the implosion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

When CDC Director Susan Monarez was fired last week — less than a month after President Donald Trump had appointed her to lead the agency — and several CDC leaders subsequently resigned in protest, Barrasso remained mum. 

Meanwhile, Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, also a physician and chair of the Senate’s health committee, quickly called for “oversight” of the “high-profile departures.”

Then on Thursday, Barrasso joined the fray when the Senate’s Finance Committee grilled Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his leadership and approach to vaccine policy. 

“Secretary Kennedy, in your confirmation hearings, you promised to uphold the highest standards for vaccines,” Barrasso said. 

“Since then, I’ve grown deeply concerned.”

The comment was notable, as Barrasso has, up until now, avoided criticizing Trump administration appointees and policies.

During a 24-year career as an orthopedic surgeon, Barrasso came to be known as “Wyoming’s Doctor,” often making guest appearances on one of Casper’s local TV news stations. And he’s offered his medical perspectives since becoming a senator, including advocating for use of COVID vaccines in 2020.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Thursday, Monarez said Kennedy pressured her to resign or “face termination” after she refused to comply with “troubling directives” from Kennedy. That included rubber stamping recommendations of a “vaccine advisory panel newly filled with people who have publicly expressed antivaccine rhetoric,” Monarez wrote.

After Kennedy built his reputation and fortune advocating against vaccines, he reassured lawmakers during his confirmation hearings that he would not limit access to vaccines. 

Barrasso backed him at the time. At Thursday’s hearing, Barrasso backed vaccines. 

“Over the last 50 years, vaccines are estimated to have saved 154 million lives worldwide,” Barrasso said. “I support vaccines. I’m a doctor. Vaccines work.”

Barrasso also said the National Institute of Health’s questioning of the use of mRNA vaccines, a national measles outbreak and the loss of leadership at the CDC is eroding public trust. 

“Americans don’t know who to rely on,” Barrasso said. 

He also noted that later this month the CDC’s revamped vaccine panel will meet to discuss childhood recommendations.

“Parents and physicians depend upon this guidance to make decisions and to keep kids safe,” Barrasso said, adding that he’s concerned “safe, proven vaccines, like measles, like Hepatitis B and others, could be in jeopardy, and that would put Americans at risk and reverse decades of progress.”

Barrasso’s newfound criticism of a Trump appointee did little to impress the Wyoming Democratic Party, which released a statement Friday calling on the congressman to “shove it.”

“John Barrasso is craven, but he’s not stupid,” the party said in a statement. “After all, he is a doctor. He knew exactly who and what he was voting to confirm — he just values his political career more than the lives of his constituents.”

The three-hour-long hearing often grew combative, even boiling over at times into a shouting match between Kennedy and Democratic lawmakers. 

Kennedy told New Hampshire Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan she was “just making stuff up,” accused Monarez of being a liar, defended his tenure and showed no sign of slowing down on his makeover of the country’s top health agency. 

“We are the sickest country in the world. That’s why we have to fire people at CDC. They did not do their job. This was their job to keep us healthy,” Kennedy said. “And I need to fire some of those people to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

While pointed in their questions, GOP lawmakers stopped short of asking for Kennedy’s resignation. 

Following the hearing, Barrasso was asked by reporters twice if he supports Kennedy, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

“I support the president,” Barrasso responded.

WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.

This story was posted on Sept. 5, 2025.