By Michael Erman and Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK (Reuters) -More than 80 organizations voiced opposition on Friday to Robert F. Kennedy Jr's nomination to lead the top U.S. health agency ahead of his Senate confirmation hearing next week, while the group 314 Action (WA:ACT) launched a six-figure ad buy to influence Republican senators against him.
The $250,000 ad campaign will run across eight states in an effort to persuade Republican lawmakers - including Senators Mitch McConnell from Kentucky, Bill Cassidy from Louisiana and John Curtis from Utah - that Kennedy's past comments spreading misinformation on vaccines represents a danger to U.S. public health.
The senators will have the opportunity to question Kennedy about his nomination to lead the U.S. Health and Human Services Department at his hearing on Wednesday.
"Senators on both sides of the aisle have a responsibility to hold him accountable," said Shaughnessy Naughton, president of 314 Action, which aims to elect Democrats with a background in science to public office.
Meanwhile, consumer group Public Citizen and healthcare coverage advocacy group Protect Our Care co-wrote a letter sent on Friday to all 100 U.S. senators, urging them to announce their opposition to Kennedy. They recruited 85 other non-governmental groups to join the letter including the Union of Concerned Scientists, the NAACP and the National Organization for Women.
"If Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. takes command of the Department of Health and Human Services, we will face lies and disinformation at an unprecedented scale that are capable of unwinding a century of progress on fighting disease and promoting public health," the letter, seen by Reuters, said.
Republican President Donald Trump announced his choice of Kennedy in November for the position.
Most of the opposition to Kennedy is driven by his stance on vaccines, but a group founded by former Republican Vice President Mike Pence also objects to Kennedy's comments in support of abortion rights.
A spokesperson for Kennedy and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.
With Republicans holding a slim three-seat majority in the Senate, the party wants to ensure unity behind Kennedy, and no Republican senator has so far voiced opposition.
Kennedy has long sown doubts about the safety and efficacy of vaccines that have helped curb disease and prevent deaths for decades. He disputes the anti-vaccine characterization and has said he would not prevent Americans from getting inoculations.
But he has led the anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense and in a 2023 interview with podcaster Lex Fridman, said no vaccines are safe and effective.
Kennedy has said he wants to work to end chronic disease, break any ties between employees at the U.S. drugs regulator and industry and advise U.S. water systems to remove fluoride.
Kennedy has faced new scrutiny over his ties to Wisner Baum, a law firm specializing in pharmaceutical drug injury cases. Kennedy has an arrangement to earn 10% of fees awarded in contingency cases he refers to the firm, according to a letter Kennedy wrote to an HHS ethics official released on Wednesday.
If confirmed, Kennedy would retain that financial interest in cases that do not directly impact the U.S. government, the letter said.