ROBERT KENNEDY JR

Independent, UK - Robert F Kennedy Jr built a following online by questioning the scientific consensus and casting doubt on the use of vaccines in the U.S., but under his new boss — President Donald Trump — the failed presidential candidate is suddenly shifting his stance.

Kennedy is Trump's pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services. Ahead of his new potential role in the Trump White House, he's reportedly been assuring the Republican senators who have to vote him in that he's "all for" polio vaccines, and that he isn't going to ban any vaccines, according to a report by Politico.

According to lawmakers who spoke to Politico, Kennedy has been telling them that he just wants to make safety and efficacy data easier to access.

This lighter touch is a change from Kennedy's previous commentary on vaccines. He previously suggested that the measles vaccine causes autism and that the polio vaccines may have killed "many, many, many, many, many more people than polio ever did."Neither of those claims represent the scientific consensus.

 Axios - HHS Secretary designate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earned $326,000 from the anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense and a $100,000 licensing fee for use of the Make America Healthy Again brand, according to financial disclosure forms posted by the Office of Government Ethics.The Senate Finance Committee announced Wednesday that it will hold a confirmation hearing on Kennedy's nomination on Jan. 29. That's expected to be followed by a second hearing in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee a day later.

Kennedy reported more than $11.3 million in earnings, including $8.8 million from the law firm Kennedy & Madonna. He pledged to transfer or forfeit interests in contingency fee cases if confirmed.

• He also earned $481,732 from JW Howard, a law firm he worked for and remains of counsel to. The firm represented a health freedom group in an appellate court challenge to a COVID-19 vaccination mandate imposed by the Los Angeles Unified School District. Kennedy indicated he would not be paid going forward.
• He received $856,559 in fees on contingency cases from Wisner Baum, where he served as co-counsel in suing Merck over patient injury claims from Gardasil, a vaccine approved to protect against human papillomavirus. More