The nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said on Wednesday that he is open to the possibility of marking an abortion pill drug as being unsafe, which could lead to it being pulled from the market. At several points, Mr. Kennedy was also grilled on his vaccine skepticism, his past activism, and sources of income. 

Mr. Kennedy has long been a supporter of abortion rights, and many Democrats were quick to point out that he was campaigning from that point of view when he was running for president himself in 2023 and 2024. Republicans raised concerns about his abortion rights position after he was nominated, though on Wednesday he said that he would follow President Trump’s lead on issues related to abortion. 

“We need to understand the safety of every drug — mifepristone and every other drug,” Mr. Kennedy said, referring to the abortion pill. Some states are actively trying to ban the pill, and Mr. Kennedy could play a critical role in that fight if Mr. Trump asks him to use his authority to declare the pill unsafe by the Food and Drug Administration’s standards. 

“President Trump has made it clear to me that one of the things he is not taking a position yet on is mifepristone. … He’s made it clear to me that he wants to take a look at safety issues, and I’ll ask NIH and FDA to do that,” Mr. Kennedy said. 

Democrats lambasted Mr. Kennedy for his compliance with Mr. Trump’s abortion rights views, including the banning of public funds for abortion under Title X. 

“You clearly stated in the past that bodily autonomy is one of your core values,” Senator Hassan told the nominee on Wednesday. “The question is: Do you stand for that core value or not? When was it that you decided to sell out the values you’ve had your whole life in order to be given power by President Trump?”

“I think everybody on that side is pro-life,” Senator Sanders said, gesturing to his Republican colleagues on the committee, before pointing to his fellow Democratic caucus members to say, “everybody here is pro-choice.”

“I have never seen any major politician flip on that issue quite as quickly as you did when Trump asked you to become HHS secretary,” the Vermont lawmaker exclaimed. 

Sitting behind Mr. Kennedy through his hours-long hearing on Wednesday was his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, other family members, and conservative press personality Megyn Kelly. Further back, Mr. Kennedy had a throng of supporters who would applaud loudly whenever the nominee got into it with a member of the Senate Finance Committee. 

One of the most heated moments of the day was when Senator Warren asked Mr. Kennedy if he would divest from an ongoing lawsuit against the pharmaceutical company Merck, which is a substantial source of income for Mr. Kennedy and his wife. Wisner Baum — a law firm where Mr. Kennedy serves as a consultant — is in the middle of suing Merck for not providing information about the risks of their HPV vaccine, and Mr. Kennedy is entitled to 10 percent of all payouts for those claimants. According to his financial disclosure, Mr. Kennedy made more than $850,000 from his Wisner Baum consultancy in the last year. 

Ms. Warren asked Mr. Kennedy if he would stop taking the 10 percent payout while he is serving as secretary, given he would oversee the agencies that regulate Merck. The nominee said he would not divest from his stake. 

“You’re asking me not to sue drug companies,” Mr. Kennedy said, leading Ms. Warren to interrupt with a “No!”

“I’m not gonna agree to that, senator,” Mr. Kennedy said, pointing his finger at her, leading his supporters in the crowd to applaud.