RFK Jr. was in the witness chair over vaccines but it was an embattled Republican senator in the hot seat

NewsWorldAmericasUS politicsanalysisRFK Jr. was in the witness chair over vaccines but it was an embattled Republican senator in the hot seatBill Cassidy is trying to thread a political needle. His success may depend on Trump’s growing weaknesses, writes John BowdenThursday 23 April 2026 19:26 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2963636","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/bill-cassidy-rfk-jr-trump-b2963636.html","title":"RFK Jr. was the witness but an embattled Republican senator was in the hot seat"},"popoverPlacementOverride":"bottom"}CloseRFK Jr says Trump calculates percentages "differently" as he defends drug price claimsSign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington emailEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_INSIDE_WASHINGTON","regTitle":"Inside Washington","subscriptionGroup":"inside_washington","subscriptionGroupId":"af764e04-87eb-45e6-a84b-a7455ba70a1e","type":"inside_washington","pathPrefix":"/news/world/americas/us-politics","associatedAuthors":["Eric Garcia","John Bowden"],"title":"Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox","mobileTitle":"Get our free Inside Washington email","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/insideWashington1_1.png","label":"I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email","newsletterKey":"receiveInsideWashingtonNews","regSourceSe...