By Josh Nathan-Kazis

The Senate's finance committee has cleared the way for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s health secretary nomination to head to a full Senate vote, pushing him a major step closer to confirmation.

The committee voted Tuesday to favorably refer Trump's Health and Human Services secretary nominee -- a strident critic of vaccines and a skeptic of their vaccine -- to the Senate. Drug and food stocks stumbled after the panel's vote, as the once unthinkable notion of Kennedy leading the federal government's public health bureaucracy moved closer to reality.

Shares of Pfizer, a major vaccine maker, fell from $26.25 ahead of the vote to $25.66 immediately after, a 2.2% drop. The stock is now down on the day, though releasing earnings results Tuesday morning that beat expectations.

Shares of the vaccine maker Moderna tumbled 9% following the vote before recovering, and are are now down 3.9% on the day.

The S&P 500 Pharmaceuticals Industry index, which tracks drug stocks in the S&P 500, fell roughly 1% following the vote, and the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF, which tracks biotech stocks, fell 1.5%.

Food stocks also dropped, and the S&P Food and Beverage Select Industry index was down roughly 0.6% following the vote.

A powerful Republican, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.), had directed challenging lines of questioning at Kennedy in hearings last week, leading to widespread speculation that he might eventually oppose the nominee's approval.

On Tuesday, however, Cassidy voted to favorably approve Kennedy's nomination out of committee. The vote was split along party lines, with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent, voting with the Democrats.

Cassidy could still vote against Kennedy when the full Senate votes. He arrived late to Tuesday's committee meeting, and left without making any comments on his vote. If four Republicans vote against Kennedy on the Senate floor, his nomination would fail.

The vote of the full Senate on the nomination has not yet been scheduled.

Kennedy's bid to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services -- which has the largest budget of any federal agency -- has roiled Washington more than virtually any of President Donald Trump's top nominees thus far.

Kennedy's stance toward vaccines has been a key focus for lawmakers. In a hearing last week, under questioning by Cassidy, Kennedy declined to assert that measles and hepatitis b vaccines don't cause autism.

"That's kind of a yes or no question," Cassidy said.

"If the data is there, I will absolutely do that," Kennedy said.

"The data has been there for a long time," Cassidy said.

Scientific consensus currently holds that vaccines do not cause autism.

Democrats railed against Kennedy in opening statements delivered ahead of the committee vote Tuesday morning.

"The question in front of us this morning is pretty simple: Do Senators want their legacy to include disregarding basic health science and instead of elevating conspiracy theorists?," said Sen. Ron Wyden, the Oregon Democrat who is the ranking member on the finance committee.

Write to Josh Nathan-Kazis at josh.nathan-kazis@barrons.com

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February 04, 2025 11:47 ET (16:47 GMT)

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