In defending his record on measles, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. twice said during a recent Senate hearing, “We promote” the measles vaccine. While it’s true that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to recommend the shot, Kennedy has rarely made an unequivocal endorsement of it, even as the nation has seen an alarming rise in measles cases.
Over a series of seven congressional hearings in April, Kennedy, who previously led a nonprofit that has spread vaccine misinformation, was quizzed about his views on the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine and his response to the many large outbreaks of measles over the last year and a half.
Experts blame the outbreaks on a decline in the vaccination rate, particularly in some areas of the country where vaccine coverage is especially low, which allows introductions of the disease to spread and grow. The U.S. eliminated the disease in 2000, meaning there hadn’t been continuous transmission of measles for more than a year within U.S. borders. With few exceptions, the U.S. has seen no more than a few hundred cases annually for many years. But since January 2025, there have been more than 4,200 cases and the first measles deaths since 2015.
