appearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Thursday. Kennedy's hearing is contentious, with Democrats pressing him on inflammatory and inaccurate statements he has made in the past on vaccines, COVID-19 and other topics. It comes as Senate Republicans are working to quickly install Mr. Trump's picks for top administration posts. The former White House hopeful, who ran as an independent, has faced intense scrutiny over his controversial views on vaccines, as well as abortion. The hearing before the Senate Finance Committee began at 10 a.m. ET. Follow along with live updates from the hearing below: