Democrats question RFK Jr. over ethics agreement change involving law firm fees

Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden, Richard Blumenthal, and Angela Alsobrooks are demanding answers from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over an undisclosed change to his ethics agreement. Although Kennedy pledged to transfer his contingency-fee interests in cervical cancer vaccine litigation to his son, he instead transferred them directly to his former employer, the law firm Wisner Baum, raising conflict of interest concerns.

Ethics agreement modification

• ▪Following warnings from lawmakers about conflicts of interest, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. agreed to amend his ethics agreement to divest his contingency-fee interests in cervical cancer vaccine litigation to his adult son, Conor Kennedy
• ▪In an August 25, 2025 letter to Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Department of Health and Human Services revealed that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. transferred his contingency-fee interests directly to the law firm Wisner Baum instead of to his son
• ▪In January 2025, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed an initial ethics disclosure allowing him to retain a 10% contingency fee in cases referred to the law firm Wisner Baum

Wisner Baum fee transfer

• ▪Conor Kennedy, the adult son of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is employed at the personal injury law firm Wisner Baum
• ▪Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Emily G. Hilliard stated that the department confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s compliance with his ethics agreement covering Gardasil litigation in May 2025 and denied he maintained any financial interest in that litigation
• ▪Robert F. Kennedy Jr. irrevocably assigned his outstanding contingency-fee interests in litigation against the drugmakers of the Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine directly to his former employer, the personal injury law firm Wisner Baum

Conflict of interest concerns

• ▪Democratic senators stated that any implicit or explicit agreement for future payments or rewards between Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Wisner Baum would call into question the integrity of his decisions as Health and Human Services Secretary
• ▪Democratic senators expressed concern that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s transfer of fees to Wisner Baum, where his son Conor Kennedy works, could represent an ongoing conflict of interest

Confirmation testimony scrutiny

• ▪The Department of Health and Human Services denied that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lied regarding his 2019 trip to Samoa, which he claimed was unrelated to vaccines
• ▪Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed during his confirmation process to become Health and Human Services Secretary that a 2019 trip to Samoa had nothing to do with vaccines, an account refuted by documents obtained by The Associated Press

Debatable claims

• ▪RFK Jr.'s vaccine policy shifts violate his pledges to lawmakers
• ▪HHS's oversight of RFK Jr.'s ethics compliance was insufficient
• ▪RFK Jr. should have disclosed his ethics agreement changes to Congress
• ▪RFK Jr.'s fee transfer to Wisner Baum constitutes an ongoing conflict of interest