New national polling commissioned by the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) shows that independent voters could cause trouble for Republicans at the ballot box this November because of the restrictive and seemingly arbitrary policies championed by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
According to the survey, a majority of independents disapprove of his job performance, oppose his recent moves on vaccines, and think his proposal to overhaul the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP)—designed to rein in out-of-control vaccine litigation—is a bad idea.
TPA’s survey found that independents disapprove of Secretary Kennedy’s job performance nearly two-to-one (59 percent to 30 percent). Fifty-eight percent say the push to politicize vaccine oversight has left them less confident in the leaders responsible for public health. More than 60 percent of independents oppose Secretary Kennedy’s early ouster of the childhood vaccine commission and his stacking of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) panel with vaccine critics. And when given a choice, they overwhelmingly say they would rather back a candidate who protects vaccine access and keeps VICP than one who tears it down.
Secretary Kennedy’s continuing financial stake in lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers is also creating an electoral liability and destroying trust in government. He kept a share of certain fees from the firm suing Merck over its Gardasil vaccine and arranged to pass that money to his son, an attorney at the firm. When informed about this, roughly three in four independents express concern.
Americans overwhelmingly say vaccine recommendations should come from independent panels of medical experts, not from presidential appointees. More troubling for the Republican Party is that eighty-three percent of GOP voters say they feel the same. Ninety-one percent of all respondents say families should continue to have access to safe FDA-approved vaccines, and nearly three-fourths trust that those vaccines are safe.
On many critical policy questions, the American public and the HHS secretary are on different sides, and VICP is another clear example of that. VICP was established to compensate patients for adverse reactions through a streamlined, no-fault process, which keeps vaccines available and affordable.
While a majority of respondents said they were unfamiliar with the program, once they were informed about it, they liked what they heard. This support was bipartisan: 66 percent call it a good idea, including 72 percent of Republicans, 61 percent of independents, and 64 percent of Democrats. Furthermore, 59 percent of independents say Secretary Kennedy’s plan to tear it down is a bad idea.
These results are stark but not unexpected, given that Secretary Kennedy is even at odds with his own boss over vaccines. The President has plainly stated that vaccines “work” and are “not controversial at all,” and that Americans who want them should have them. Two-thirds of voters agree, and so do independent voters. Secretary Kennedy’s agenda is the outlier, and it is not helping Republicans hold the independents they need to retain control of Congress.
Americans want safe vaccines and the choice to access the healthcare products and therapies that work best for them. They want to protect VICP, which has allowed manufacturers to continue bringing lifesaving products to market. Americans realize that choice and competition, not bureaucracy and mandates, are key to a healthcare system that works for everyone. Secretary Kennedy rejects this vision in favor of a conspiratorial nanny state.
Secretary Kennedy is out of touch with Americans, and he is dragging his party into a losing fight with the same voters who brought the President to the White House in 2024. Lawmakers and the Trump administration must listen to constituents and voters before it is too late.
