2026-06-28T09:32:00-0400 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
华盛顿讯 — 参议员比尔·卡西迪强烈批评卫生与公众服务部部长小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪的疫苗怀疑论及该国公共卫生事务处理方式，尽管他曾在去年投下关键票数推动肯尼迪的提名。
身为参议院卫生委员会主席的内科医生卡西迪在《与玛格丽特·布伦南会面》节目中表示，不难推测肯尼迪曾向他作出承诺以换取他的支持，而自此之后，这位HHS部长对他和美国作出的承诺“已被违背”。
“如果你以谎言为基础构建公共卫生体系，那么你将无法获得足够的公共卫生保障，”他说道。布伦南对卡西迪的采访于6月25日进行。
卡西迪解释称，他之所以投票支持确认肯尼迪的任命，是因为另一种选择是让肯尼迪以类似沙皇的角色上任，不受任何国会监督。
“鲍比·肯尼迪本可以直接面见总统。总统似乎对肯尼迪家族十分着迷，”卡西迪说道。
“要么他将处于有约束机制的职位上，而我确实就约束机制相关事宜获得了承诺；要么他将被任命为白宫卫生沙皇，在这种情况下他可以直接面见总统，不受任何约束，”卡西迪说。“你可以批评这一选择，但我选择了有约束机制的那一个。”
当被问及肯尼迪是否如卡西迪此前预想的那样恢复了公众对公共卫生的信任时，这位参议员直言：“他没有恢复公众对公共卫生的信任”，并提及特朗普政府试图限制肯尼迪权力的相关报道。
“民调显示美国民众明白疫苗很重要，而有人到处宣称疫苗并不重要，这与他们的亲身经历相悖，”他说。
当被问及总统是否了解公众对肯尼迪部分议程的看法时，卡西迪表示：“本届政府显然已不再宣扬反疫苗言论，转而采取了更为积极的态度。”
在2025年2月4日的参议院演讲中，卡西迪称肯尼迪曾向他作出多项承诺，其中包括承诺美国疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）将在其网站上保留声明，表明疫苗与自闭症之间不存在已证实的关联。
CDC当前的网页标题为“疫苗不会导致自闭症”，但带有星号说明，并在页面底部标注，该表述之所以保留在网站上，是因为与卡西迪达成的协议。
就在该标题下方，网页写道：“本网页已更新，因为‘疫苗不会导致自闭症’这一表述并非基于证据的主张。”该页面随后对该表述提出质疑，称“目前仍没有研究支持‘婴儿接种白百破疫苗、乙肝疫苗、B型流感嗜血杆菌疫苗、脊髓灰质炎疫苗和肺炎球菌结合疫苗不会导致自闭症’这一具体说法。”
研究表明，与未接种疫苗的人群相比，接种疫苗的人群自闭症发病率并未升高。
在《与玛格丽特·布伦南会面》的采访中，卡西迪表示：“我可以告诉你，我与这位部长达成的协议遭到了破坏，这原本不应该发生。”
HHS未回应哥伦比亚广播公司就卡西迪的指控提出的置评请求。
肯尼迪去年6月在众议院能源与商业小组委员会的预算听证会上作证称，他“正在遵守”与卡西迪参议员达成的所有协议。
不过，卡西迪也称赞肯尼迪对超加工食品的关注。
“如果他只专注于这一领域，我们国家的情况会好得多，”他说。“但‘免疫接种存在危害’这一观点显然已被生活经验推翻，因为当前的情况是人们因此生病，甚至死亡，本届政府显然已不再宣扬这一观点。”
普尔泰担任代理国家情报总监
针对特朗普总统选择住房监管官员比尔·普尔泰临时领导国家情报总监办公室一事，卡西迪表示，他的反对理由是“他利用个人信息针对总统的一位政治敌人”。
同时领导联邦住房金融局的普尔泰曾指控多名特朗普政友存在抵押贷款欺诈行为，且完全没有国家安全领域的经验，这引发了议员们的广泛不满。
“你不应仅仅因为政府负责人不喜欢某人或觉得某人碍事，就动用政府力量打压对方。比尔·普尔泰的这一行为足以 disqualify 他担任国家情报总监的资格，”他说。
普尔泰已向司法部提交刑事举报，指控包括纽约州总检察长利蒂希娅·詹姆斯、参议员亚当·希夫、美联储州长丽莎·库克和前众议员埃里克·斯沃韦尔在内的多名特朗普政治对手存在抵押贷款欺诈行为。特朗普曾以针对库克的欺诈指控为由，试图解雇她，该案件目前正由最高法院审理。
最高法院预计将于本周就库克的案件作出裁决，随后将结束本届任期，进入夏季休庭。
上述四人均否认存在不当行为，截至目前，只有针对詹姆斯的调查最终提起了刑事指控，但该案件已被驳回。
国会山的民主党人要求无党派的美国政府问责局调查普尔泰“是否可能滥用联邦权力和资源，公开指控知名民主党人和唐纳德·特朗普 perceived 政治对手存在抵押贷款欺诈行为”。该办公室去年12月证实，正在调查联邦住房金融局的抵押贷款欺诈调查程序以及该程序近期的任何变动。6月2日，GAO的一位发言人表示，该办公室预计将在“2026年末或2027年初”发布调查结果。
托德·布兰奇与1月6日事件
这位路易斯安那州参议员暗示，他可能不会支持特朗普总统提名的司法部长人选托德·布兰奇——目前布兰奇以代理身份担任该职务——除非获得书面保证，司法部不会推进18亿美元的“反武器化”基金计划，该基金用于支付声称遭受政治迫害的人员。
布兰奇本月早些时候告诉众议院议员，司法部“不会推进”该基金计划，但特朗普政府拒绝提交宣誓声明，证实该基金计划已彻底终止。
“仅仅写一封信说明我们不会推进此事似乎并不难，”卡西迪说。“但尽管如此，他已经表示不会推进。总统发出了相互矛盾的信号，这是在投票前必须解决的问题。”
特朗普有时“行事仿佛国会只是附属机构”
卡西迪表示，国会的职责不是无条件支持特朗普总统的优先事项，但同时他不确定特朗普是否理解三权分立原则。
“有时他行事仿佛国会只是附属机构，坦率地说，有时国会也表现得像个附属机构，”卡西迪说。
“国会希望获得知情权，我们有开国元勋制定的规则和程序，他们制定这些规则和程序，正是为了防止总统权力过大——总统职位本应代表全体美国人民，而非仅反映某一个人的意志，”他补充道。
卡西迪是少数曾多次批评特朗普政策和人事任命的共和党参议员之一。其中三人，包括卡西迪，要么即将退休，要么在初选中输给了特朗普支持的挑战者。当被问及这些人离任后，是否还会有人留下来监督总统时，卡西迪回答：“简单来说，是的。”
“参议院是一个独立于总统职位的机构，我认为我们正在见证这一点，”他说。
周三特朗普出席国会山共和党午餐会时，卡西迪与他发生了争执。这次紧张的交锋发生在卡西迪投票支持一项战争权力决议，以限制特朗普进一步对伊朗采取军事行动之后。会面之前，特朗普突然取消了一项两党住房负担能力法案的签署仪式，该法案获得了压倒性的两党支持，他此举旨在向参议院共和党议员施压，要求他们通过一项名为《拯救美国法案》的投票监管法案。特朗普的其他一些优先事项，包括为白宫新建大型宴会厅提供资金，以及司法部提议的“反武器化”基金计划，也在参议院遭遇阻碍。
“我无法揣测总统的想法，”卡西迪在谈及特朗普的优先事项时说道。“我认为应该优先考虑的是，如何让美国民众的生活更负担得起？”
卡西迪还告诉布伦南，在与总统发生争执后，他递给中东特使史蒂夫·维特科夫一张便条，表示如果能获得有关这场战争的简报，他会考虑改变自己的投票立场。维特科夫向他提供了简报，随后卡西迪撤回了对该决议的支持。
周四晚间，特朗普致电卡西迪，感谢他周三晚间改变了对伊朗战争权力决议程序性投票的立场。卡西迪告诉哥伦比亚广播公司，这次对话“积极且旨在建立工作关系”。
白宫未回应置评请求。
诵读困难症相关工作
在担任参议员的最后几个月里，卡西迪正努力争取联邦政府支持针对诵读困难症儿童的早期干预措施，并可能接受特朗普未来提出的合作邀请。
据美国心理协会引用的一项估计，全美多达20%的人口患有诵读困难症，约数百万美国人。
这一议题对卡西迪尤为重要。他的女儿患有诵读困难症，他的妻子也是一名医生，在路易斯安那州运营着特许学校，为被诊断出患有该病症的儿童提供特殊课程。
卡西迪表示，联邦政府提供支持，帮助识别和适应学习差异，能够确保全国范围内的儿童不会遭受长期后果。
“如果联邦政府能稍加推动，这一目标就能实现。”
卡西迪还表示：“如果20%的儿童学习阅读的方式与众不同，而我们却不适应他们的阅读学习方式，那么他们将陷入困境，我们也会损失这部分社会资本。”
他还尖锐批评了特朗普对加利福尼亚州州长加文·纽森披露自己患有诵读困难症的言论。特朗普今年3月在Truth Social的帖子中称纽森“愚蠢”，并患有“精神障碍”。
“这种言论是有害的，”当被问及这对年轻一代有何影响时，卡西迪说道。“你不应该侮辱他人。”
“我们应该给予鼓励，”卡西迪在采访中说道。“看看那些患有诵读困难症的杰出人士，他们只是思维方式不同。查尔斯·施瓦布称自己患有诵读困难症，他是个相当聪明的人，思维方式与众不同。”
疫苗外交
卡西迪也不同意肯尼迪试图削弱美国牵头的帮助非洲及其他地区终结疾病的举措，他认为这会损害美国的国家安全。
“我强烈反对鲍比在海外免疫接种问题上的做法，”卡西迪说。“这是一种软实力。我们正与中国展开全球地缘政治竞争。在撒哈拉以南非洲，帮助我们的一大因素就是PEPFAR计划和免疫接种计划，当地民众因此感谢美国，并倾向于与我们合作。”
PEPFAR，即“总统防治艾滋病紧急救援计划”，在特朗普政府第二届任期的最初几个月里，由于埃隆·马斯克关闭了负责该计划部分事务的美国国际开发署，其运作受到了干扰。
该计划由乔治·W·布什总统在20多年前签署成为法律，据国务院称，该计划通过提供关键药物和疾病教育，挽救了约2600万人的生命。
肯尼迪还削减了美国对全球疫苗免疫联盟（GAVI）的参与，该组织帮助第三世界国家的民众接种疫苗。
“这比派遣军队效果更好，也比派遣军队成本更低，是一项人道之举，”卡西迪说。“这符合美国的利益。鲍比反对这一点，因为他对疫苗的危险性抱有一些愚蠢的想法，但我们看到的是，更多人死于疾病。目前尚无埃博拉疫苗，但可以说，我们在非洲建立的基础设施，比如因美国国际开发署的改革而受损，这可能降低了我们的应对能力。”
关于GAVI，美国国务卿马可·鲁比奥6月2日在参议院外交关系听证会上表示，“国务院将重新参与其中”，HHS仍将发挥作用。
“我们希望听取他们的意见，但我们希望解决这一问题，达成一个国会和我们全球卫生目标都能接受的结果，”鲁比奥说。
Cassidy accuses RFK Jr. of building public health “upon a foundation of lies”
2026-06-28T09:32:00-0400 / CBS News
Washington — Sen. Bill Cassidy strongly criticized Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his vaccine skepticism and handling of the nation’s public health, despite having delivered the key vote to advance Kennedy’s nomination last year.
Cassidy, a medical doctor who chairs the Senate health committee, said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that it’s “easy to surmise” that Kennedy made promises to him to win his vote, and since then, the commitments that the HHS secretary made to him and the country “have been violated.”
“If you build public health upon a foundation of lies, then you’re going to have the absence of adequate public health,” he said. Brennan’s interview with Cassidy was conducted on June 25.
Cassidy explained that he cast the vote to help confirm Kennedy because the alternate scenario was having him installed in a czar-type role without any congressional oversight.
“Bobby Kennedy was going to have the ear of the President. The President seems to be fascinated with the Kennedys,” Cassidy remarked.
“Either he was going to be in a position where there were guardrails, and I did have commitments made as to kind of guardrails. Or he was going to be appointed White House health czar, in which case he would have the president’s ear without the guardrails,” Cassidy said. “You can criticize it, but I chose to have the one with the guardrails.”
Asked whether Kennedy has restored trust in public health, as Cassidy thought he might do, the senator declared, “He has not restored trust in public health” and pointed to reports of the Trump administration trying to rein in Kennedy.
“Polling shows that the American people understand that vaccines are important, and for someone to be out there saying that they’re not goes against their experience,” he said.
Asked if the president is aware of the public perception around some of Kennedy’s agenda, Cassidy said, “The administration clearly has gotten off the anti-vaccine message into something more positive.”
In a speech on the Senate floor on Feb. 4, 2025, Cassidy said that Kennedy had made a number of promises to him including a pledge that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would keep statements on its website noting there is no established link between vaccines and autism.
The current CDC web page has a heading stating “Vaccines do not cause Autism,” but it appears with an asterisk and says at the bottom of the page that the phrase remains on the site due to an agreement with Cassidy.
Immediately below the heading, the page reads, “this webpage has been updated because the statement ‘Vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim.” The page goes on to raise questions about the statement, arguing that “there are still no studies that support the specific claim that infant vaccines DTaP, HepB, Hib, IPV, and PCV, do not cause autism.”
Research has found no evidence of increased rates of autism among those who are vaccinated compared to those who are not.
In the “Face the Nation” interview, Cassidy said “I can tell you that that broken agreement that I had with the secretary, that that was not supposed to happen.”
HHS did not respond to a CBS request for a response to Cassidy’s accusation.
Kennedy last June testified in a budget hearing before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee that he is “complying with all the agreements” he made with Senator Cassidy.
Still, Cassidy gave credit to Kennedy for his focus on ultra-processed foods.
“If that’s where he stayed, our country would be really much better off,” he said. “But the concept that immunizations somehow are bad has been clearly disproven by life experience, because what’s happening is people getting sick, in some cases dying, and the administration clearly has moved away from that.”
Pulte as acting DNI
On President Trump’s choice of housing regulator Bill Pulte to temporarily lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Cassidy said his objection “is that he used personal information to target a political enemy of the president.”
Pulte, who also leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has accused several Trump foes of mortgage fraud and lacks any experience in national security, prompting a wave of disapproval from lawmakers.
“You should not be using the force of government to crash upon somebody just because the person in charge does not like them or finds them inconvenient. The fact that Bill did that is disqualifying for someone to be the director of national intelligence,” he said.
Pulte has sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department alleging mortgage fraud by a number of Mr. Trump’s political foes, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and former Rep. Eric Swalwell. Mr. Trump cited the fraud allegations against Cook to justify her attempted firing, which is currently before the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule on Cook’s case this week as it wraps up the current term before beginning summer recess.
All four have denied wrongdoing, and only the investigation into James has resulted in criminal charges to date. That case was eventually dismissed.
Democrats on Capitol Hill asked the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office to examine whether Pulte “potentially misused federal authority and resources to publicly accuse prominent Democrats and President Donald Trump’s perceived political enemies of mortgage fraud.” The office confirmed in December that it was investigating FHFA’s mortgage fraud investigation procedures and any recent changes in the process. On June 2, a GAO spokesperson said the office expects to issue the results in “late 2026 or early 2027.”
Todd Blanche and Jan. 6
The Louisiana senator indicated he could withhold his support for Mr. Trump’s attorney general pick, Todd Blanche, who is currently serving in the position in an acting capacity, until there’s written assurance that the Justice Department won’t move forward with the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to pay people who claim they were politically persecuted.
Blanche told House lawmakers earlier this month that the Justice Department is “not moving forward” with the fund, but the Trump administration has refused to submit a sworn declaration verifying that the fund is dead.
“It doesn’t seem hard to just write a letter saying we’re not going to do it,” Cassidy said. “But nonetheless, he has said that he is not going to. The president has sent conflicting signals, that’s something that has to be sorted out before the vote.”
Trump sometimes “acts as if Congress is merely an appendage”
Cassidy said it is not Congress’ job to act as a rubber stamp on Mr. Trump’s priorities, but at the same time, he’s not sure if Mr. Trump understands the separation of powers.
“Sometimes he acts as if Congress is merely an appendage, and frankly, sometimes Congress acts like it’s an appendage,” Cassidy said.
“Congress wants to be read in, and Congress has our rules and procedures that our Founding Fathers set up, and they set it up precisely so that there would not be too powerful of an institution of a presidency designed to reflect all of the American people, not just the will of one person,” he added.
Cassidy is among a handful of Republican senators who have at times been critical of Mr. Trump’s policy and personnel decisions. Three of them, including Cassidy, are either retiring or lost their primaries to Trump-backed challengers. Asked whether anyone else would be left to hold the president accountable after they leave, Cassidy replied, “the simple answer will be yes.”
“The Senate is a separate body, separate from the presidency. I think we’re seeing that,” he said.
Cassidy and Mr. Trump clashed Wednesday when the president attended a GOP lunch at the Capitol. Their testy exchange came after Cassidy voted in support of a war powers resolution to limit Mr. Trump from taking further military action against Iran. Before the meeting, Mr. Trump abruptly canceled a signing ceremony for a bipartisan housing affordability bill that had overwhelming bipartisan support as he sought to increase pressure on Senate Republicans to pass a voting regulations bill known as the SAVE America Act. Some of Mr. Trump’s other priorities, including funding related to a massive new White House ballroom and the Justice Department’s proposed “anti-weaponization” fund, also hit roadblocks in the upper chamber.
“I cannot get inside the president’s brain,” Cassidy said of Mr. Trump’s priorities. “What I think should be the priority is, how do you make life more affordable for the American people?”
Cassidy also told Brennan that after his dustup with the president, he passed a note to Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, saying he’d consider changing his vote if he received a briefing on the war. Witkoff gave him a briefing, and Cassidy then withdrew his support for the resolution.
Thursday night, Trump called Cassidy and thanked him for changing his position on the procedural vote on the Iran war powers resolution Wednesday night. Cassidy told CBS that the conversation was “positive and looking to build a working relationship.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Work on Dyslexia
In his final months as a senator, Cassidy is trying to get federal support for early intervention to help kids with dyslexia, and may take up Mr. Trump’s offer to work together in the future.
Millions of Americans are dyslexic — up to 20% — according to an estimate cited by the American psychological association.
And it is a cause particularly important to Cassidy. His daughter is dyslexic and his wife – also a doctor – runs charter schools in Louisiana with a special curriculum for children who have been diagnosed with the disability.
Cassidy said backing from the federal government to help identify and accommodate learning differences can ensure kids across the country don’t suffer long term consequences.
“If the federal government kind of puts a little bit of oomph behind it, it’s going to happen.”
Cassidy also said, “It makes sense if 20% of the children learn to read differently and we are not accommodating the difference in how they learn to read, then they’re going to be stuck, and we lose that social capital.”
He was also sharply critical of Mr. Trump’s criticism of California Governor Gavin Newsom’s disclosure that he is dyslexic. Mr. Trump said in a Truth Social posts in March that Newsom is “dumb” and has a “mental disorder.”
“It’s harmful,” Cassidy said of the rhetoric when asked what impact it has on younger generations. “You should not insult people.”
“We should have a gift of encouragement,” Cassidy said in the interview.
“If you look at some of the people who are dyslexic, who are really bright, they just learn to think differently. Charles Schwab describes himself as dyslexic. Charles Schwab is a pretty smart guy, and he thought differently.”
Vaccine diplomacy
Cassidy also disagreed with Kennedy’s efforts to roll back U.S.-led initiatives to help end disease in Africa and elsewhere, arguing it undercuts America’s national security.
“I strongly objected to what Bobby did with immunizations overseas,” Cassidy said. “That is a form of soft power. We are in a global geopolitical competition with China. One thing that’s helped us tremendously in Sub-Saharan Africa is the PEPFAR program and immunization programs, in which people there thank the United States and are predisposed to work with us.”
PEPFAR – also known as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief – had its operations disrupted in the early months of the second Trump Administration as part of Elon Musk’s closure of USAID, which administered parts of the program.
The initiative was signed into law by President George W. Bush more than two decades ago and saved an estimated 26 million lives by delivering vital medications and education about the disease according to the State Department.
Kennedy has also curtailed U.S. participation in GAVI — the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization — which helps immunize people in third world countries.
“It is better than sending troops, it’s cheaper than sending troops, it’s a humane thing to do,” he said. “It’s in the U.S. interest. Bobby was opposed to it because he had some foolish notion about the dangers of vaccines, but instead we see, more, people are dying of disease. Next, there’s not a vaccine for Ebola, but it’s, but it’s fair to say that the infrastructure we had helped create in Africa had been damaged by the changes in USAID, for example, and that probably made us less capable of responding.”
On GAVI, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a Senate Foreign Relations hearing on June 2 that “the State Department’s going to be renengaging,” and that HHS will still have a role.
“We want to take their input, but we’d like to get this issue resolved and an outcome that’s acceptable both to Congress and also to our goals on global health,” Rubio said.