Roger Marshall

Whereas Cassidy in confirmation hearings last year grilled Kennedy on his longstanding skepticism of vaccines and has given him a hard time about vaccine policy ever since, Marshall asked God to bless Kennedy and said he’d “never seen a person whose words, written and spoken, have been so misattributed, exaggerated, sensationalized and taken out of context.”

Three people familiar with Marshall’s plans, granted anonymity to discuss his thinking before Cassidy lost his primary, told POLITICO he’s been angling for the Health Committee chair for months.

An OB/GYN before he got into politics, Marshall has criticized vaccine mandates and supported nutrition-forward health reforms, including a focus on chronic disease prevention.

At a Senate Finance Committee hearing in September, Marshall endorsed Kennedy’s view that the hepatitis B vaccine is given to babies who don’t need it because their mothers don’t have the disease. “It makes no sense to me. I’ve only delivered five thousand babies, but we do a hepatitis test on every mom,” he said.

Last year, Marshall introduced the Better Food Disclosure Act, a bill that would require processed food makers to report new ingredients they use and allow people to petition the Food and Drug Administration to review the safety of new ingredients. Kennedy has made tougher oversight of new food ingredients a major priority.

The chair of the Health Committee has the power to block some Health and Human Services Department nominees. Under Cassidy, the panel never held votes on three nominees backed by Kennedy: President Donald Trump’s first pick to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, former Florida GOP Rep. Dave Weldon, and two Trump picks for surgeon general, MAHA supporters Janette Nesheiwat and Casey Means. All three were withdrawn because of the impasse.

“Roger Marshall is telling folks it’ll be him,” said one of the people familiar with dynamics among members of the committee.

Marshall didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Cassidy’s loss, however, could backfire on Kennedy and his MAHA allies if Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who’s one notch up the seniority ladder from Marshall, were to decide to take the top GOP slot.

Though she supported Kennedy’s nomination, she openly opposed Weldon and Means because she didn’t think they’d do enough to promote vaccination.

Murkowski currently leads the Senate Appropriations Interior and Environment Subcommittee as well as the Indian Affairs Committee — a position she values highly given Alaska’s large indigenous population — and would likely have to give one up to lead the Health panel.

By seniority, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a surgeon and MAHA ally, and Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who’s more skeptical of Kennedy, are at the top of the list. But both Paul and Collins already chair influential panels: the Homeland Security and Appropriations committees, respectively. If either wanted a shot at the Health Committee gavel, they would need to drop their other chairmanship.

Collins, of course, might not be back next year. She’s Democrats’ No. 1 Senate target.

Neither she, Paul nor Murkowski responded to requests for comment.

For now, Kennedy will still have to deal with Cassidy, who will retain the Health Committee chair until the end of his term at the end of the year.

To pick a new chair, Republican committee members will vote by secret ballot to nominate one of their own. Though seniority typically wins out, it’s not a given. Then their nominee goes before the Senate Republican conference for approval.