Warren, Wyden, Sanders Press RFK Jr. on Big Pharma Influence Following Mar-a-Lago Dinners
RFK Jr. joined Trump’s “million dollar” dinners with Pharma execs, raising questions about promises to “clean up corruption” and industry’s influence on key policies to lower drug costs
“You owe the American public an explanation for why you took part in PhRMA’s influence-peddling events with President Trump.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), along with Senate Finance Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), pressed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his promises to “clean up corruption” and “stop the revolving door between industry and government,” following reports that Kennedy attended multiple “million-dollar” dinners with Big Pharma executives at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.
According to the Wall Street Journal, healthcare executives wrote checks for millions of dollars to attend at least six private dinners with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Kennedy attended several of these dinners, despite being a longtime Big Pharma critic and leading previous proposals to beat back the industry’s influence — raising questions about Big Pharma’s ability to throw its weight around during the Trump Administration.
“It is unclear why you attended private dinners with Big Pharma executives at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club following your promises to ‘clean up corruption’ and 'stop the revolving door between industry and government,’” wrote the lawmakers.
The pharmaceutical executives who attended Trump’s dinners alongside RFK Jr. have repeatedly called on the Administration to stop the Medicare drug negotiations that have already lowered prescription costs and could save taxpayers as much as $100 billion by 2032. Big Pharma stands to profit immensely from President Trump’s abandonment of this and other policies that would bring drug prices down, such as patent reform. PhRMA officials have continued to lobby President Trump to weaken drug price negotiations in the months since the dinners.
“The dinners may have served as an opportunity for Big Pharma to gain insider access to both you and President Trump,” continued the lawmakers.
At Kennedy’s swearing-in ceremony last month, he committed to “end the corruption, end the corporate capture” of regulatory agencies like HHS by Big Pharma, additionally promising to remove regulatory panel members with conflicts of interest, and provide “radical transparency.” His presence at these lobbying dinners stands in stark contrast with these commitments, and raises questions about the policies he may pursue at HHS.
“You owe the American public an explanation for why you took part in PhRMA’s influence-peddling events with President Trump, what happened at these meetings, and whether they will affect your commitment to ensuring that Americans receive the relief they deserve from high drug prices,” concluded the lawmakers.
Senator Warren led efforts to oppose RFK Jr.’s nomination and subsequent confirmation for his conflicts of interest and dangerous views on vaccines:
- On March 3, 2025, Senator Warren wrote to RFK Jr. regarding his dangerous actions to undermine vaccines and vaccine production, just weeks after he was confirmed as Secretary and days after he published a new op-ed.
- On February 13, 2025, following Senate Republicans voting to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Senator Elizabeth Warren released a statement calling his confirmation “a huge mistake” and said his conflicts of interest would allow him and his family to “continue getting richer from his anti-vaccine crusade.”
- On February 12, 2025, on the Senate floor, Senator Elizabeth Warren joined Democrats in delaying a final vote to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. In her speech, she warned that American families and children would pay the price for Mr. Kennedy’s “conspiracy-driven health care decisions,” while his serious ethics conflicts remain unresolved.
- On February 6, 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) wrote to then-nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. about his continued conflicts of interest. The senators called out Mr. Kennedy’s plan to enter office with a serious ethics conflict by keeping a financial interest in anti-vaccine lawsuits within his family, asked him to recuse himself from former clients’ matters, commit to not lobbying HHS after his tenure as Secretary, and more.
- On February 4, 2025, following the Senate Finance Committee vote to advance the nomination of RFK Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Senator Warren gave remarks regarding Mr. Kennedy’s continued conflicts of interest.
- On February 3, 2025, Senators Warren and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member on the Senate Finance Committee, wrote to RFK Jr., pressing him to urgently resolve his serious conflicts of interest before the committee vote Wednesday morning.
- On January 31, 2025, following pressure from Senate Democrats, RFK Jr., agreed to amend his flawed ethics agreement (see Warren QFRs at the end of Part 2 and start of Part 3).
- On January 29, 2025, at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Warren questioned Mr. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, about his dangerous conflicts of interest and record of profiting from anti-vaccine conspiracies.
- On January 18, 2025, ahead of RFK Jr.’s confirmation hearing for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Senator Warren sent a 34-page letter detailing her concerns with his nomination and asked him to answer 175 questions ahead of his hearing before the Finance Committee.
- On November 14, 2024, in response to the news that President-elect Donald Trump selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services, Senator Warren released a statement calling him a “danger to public health, scientific research, medicine, and health care coverage for millions of Americans.”
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