The top Republican on the Senate's chief health committee, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., indicated Thursday that he was “struggling" to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his inability to admit vaccines are safe and don't cause autism.

Conservatives in Louisiana view the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a litmus test for President Trump's agenda.

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., told Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday that he has been "struggling with your nomination" to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Cassidy's comments came during the second hearing this week for Kennedy, President Donald… pic.twitter.com/zlLMfc2D0g

Click in for more news from The Hill{beacon} Health Care Health Care   The Big Story All eyes on Cassidy for second RFK Jr. hearing Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the Senate

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. goes before two two U.S. Senate hearings in his quest to head the nation's health department. Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, a doctor, sits on both.

Sanders, the senior minority party member on the committee, pressed Kennedy to concede that health care was a human right, as his father, Robert F. Kennedy, and his uncles, John F. Kennedy and Edward Kennedy, had done. Kennedy again did not give a definitive answer.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, concluded Thursday's hearing by saying he was "struggling" with the nomination due to Kennedy's vaccine positions. Kennedy notably refused to say vaccines don't cause autism as he faced pointed question from lawmakers.

“We have to do that because we have very big deficits with those countries,” Trump told reporters Thursday, adding that the tariffs “may or may not rise with time.” Trump also complained that both countries had not done enough to curb illegal migrants and fentanyl coming across the U.S. border.

Kennedy, tapped by Trump to lead HHS, struggled to ease concerns held by on-the-fence GOP senators over his long history of vaccine skepticism.

The top Republican on the Senate's health committee, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., faced criticism from fellow Republicans after he suggested his vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s confirmation as Health and Human Services secretary is not a lock.

WASHINGTON — Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy asked Thursday that health chief nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. put aside his decades-old questioning of vaccinations and promote immunizations should he be con