RFK Jr grilled by Warren over drug company money, while she took $5 million from them

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., pressed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to make commitments that he would not seek to profit off of drug companies or lawsuits related to them after working in the Trump administration, if he is confirmed as Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary.  

However, the Massachusetts Democrat herself raked in roughly $5 million from the health industry during her presidential bid in 2020. 

“Will you commit that when you leave this job, you will not accept compensation from a drug company, a medical device company, a hospital system, or a health insurer for at least four years, including as a lobbyist or a board member?” Warren asked Kennedy during his hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday. 

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren questioned Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about taking money from drug companies or lawsuits. (Reuters)

“I’m happy to commit to that,” President Trump’s nominee for secretary of HHS told her. “I don’t think any of them want to give me money, by the way.”

Warren continued, asking Kennedy to promise he would not “take any compensation from any lawsuits against drug companies while you are secretary and for four years afterward” either. 

“You won’t go to work for a drug company after you leave HHS, but you and I both know there’s another way to make money,” the senator told him. 

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services, returns to his seat following a break during his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Jan. 29, 2025 (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Kennedy pushed back on this, suggesting, “You’re asking me to not sue drug companies,” which he said he would not agree to. 

Despite requesting these assurances from Trump’s HHS nominee, Warren notably received about $5 million from the healthcare sector and associated industries during her failed presidential bid. 

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he did not think drug companies would want to give him money. (IStock / iStock)

She was given $2,366,613 by health professionals, $1,600,888 by hospitals and nursing homes, $644,499 from miscellaneous health industries and $625,580 from the pharmaceuticals and health products industry, according to OpenSecrets.

Her office did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication. 

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren took more than $5 million from the health industry. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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Warren is not the only senator who has taken significant contributions from these industries. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., received more than $200,000 during the 2024 election cycle and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., took upwards of $360,000 in 2022. They are both members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.