U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz took to the Senate floor this morning to oppose the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Schatz said Kennedy, President Donald Trump’s nominee, is unqualified for the position and that he’s “literally made a career out of lying about the safety of basic vaccines.”

“You’d think the person nominated to lead our nation’s top health department – an agency with a budget of over two trillion dollars and responsible for running everything from Medicare to vaccine trials — you’d think that person would at least be interested, if not experienced, in curing diseases and promoting public health,” said Schatz, a Democrat. “That they’d follow science and work to build the public’s trust in it. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is none of those things.”

Kennedy has denied spreading misinformation about vaccines.

Schatz recounted how Kennedy traveled to Samoa in 2019 to discourage people from taking the measles vaccine, which the senator said deepened hesitancy that was already building.

Vaccination rates for eligible 1-year-olds fell to lower than 33%, Schatz said, and five months later, Samoa was in the middle of a measles outbreak. More than 5,000 people became infected, he said, and 83 of them — mostly children — died.

“This man, in his views and his actions, is as dangerous as they come,” said Schatz. “You wouldn’t put him in charge of a local clinic, let alone our country’s entire health system.”

Schatz said Kennedy has also regularly spouted deranged conspiracy theories, vowed to fire hundreds of federal health scientists, and to stop all research into infectious diseases and vaccine development.

“Yes, this is a question of character and competence,” said Schatz. “But it is also a question of life or death and who we want in charge, making decisions, when lives are on the line. And it’s our job, here in the Senate, to make damn sure that person isn’t RFK Jr.”

Kennedy, who dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Trump, has touted his “Make America Healthy Again” campaign to tackle chronic diseases by addressing ultra-processed foods and “big pharma.”

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, a medical doctor, has also spoken out publicly against Kennedy’s nomination, and earlier this month traveled to Washington, D.C. to dissuade U.S. senators from confirming him.