The gentlelady from Washington was a steely truth seeker on Thursday morning, as Sen. Patty Murray confronted Cabinet nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about his anti-vaxxer views and false claims.
At issue at the confirmation hearing — RFK, Jr. has been tapped to be Secretary of Health and Human Services —was a vaccine designed to prevent cervical cancer. The vaccine is vouched for by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but has been largely described by RFK, Jr. as “one of the most dangerous vaccines ever approved.”
You have “said it actually increases the risk of cervical cancer,” said Murray. “Do you stand by those statements?” Kennedy threw up an evasive flurry, refusing to answer the question because a lawsuit against makers of the HPV vaccine is before a court in Los Angeles. The plaintiff is represented by the Wismer Baum law firm that has paid RFK, Jr,, $2.5 million in referral fees since 2022.
Murray wasn’t going to let off the would-be swamp drainer. While overall cancer rates among women have climbed, she noted, “the HOV vaccine has saved lives and cut cervical cancer rates dramatically. Do you stand by those statements, yes or no?”
The onetime preschool teacher from Shoreline was uniquely positioned to press the nominee. Murray is the Senate’s longest serving Democrat. When Democrats were in control, she chaired the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which held the confirmation hearing.
Murray is a booster and defender of vaccines, and longtime advocate for funding of diseases that strike women. The first speech she gave in the Senate, 32 years ago, called for action into causes of ovarian cancer. One more credibility factor: Murray had watched and assisted friends dying from ovarian cancer. She was one of the first women elected to the Senate who was not preceded by a spouse.
Some years back, the Washingtonian magazine ran a snarky evaluation of the raptors and drones of Congress. Murray was listed in two derogatory categories, “Dressed by Goodwill” and “No Rocket Scientist.” The joke was on them. Murray is now in her sixth term and a member of the Democratic leadership. And she connects back home. “We want that seat,” snarled Fox News fossil Sean Hannity on eve of the 2022 election. Murray blew away well-funded GOP challenger Tiffany Smiley with 57 percent of the vote.
She is Washington’s provider of services from a seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. The “Gentlelady” knows how to work both Washingtons.
An example: The second Bush administration plotted to close the veterans hospital that is a major employer in Walla Walla. Although in the minority, Murray prevailed on the chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, to authorize a field hearing in Walla Walla. The case for closure was blown away. The local VFW chapter produced witnesses saying they would be forced to drive 200-plus miles to distant cities for treatment. As well, the Walla Walla hospital has earned a reputation for repair of broken limbs and emotional wounds from conflict.
It takes intelligence to pull that off, smarts badly needed now. The Trump Administration has adopted a shock-and-awe strategy, seeking to win by intimidation.
The gentlelady is unphased. Eight years ago, she almost blocked confirmation of another unqualified Trump nominee, billionaire Republican donor Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. (Vice President Mike Pence broke a 50-50 Senate tie to get DeVos confirmed.) Murray pushed back when DeVos pushed for federal dollars to go to private, parochial, and charter schools.
Murray mounted an instant attack this week on an Office of Management and Budget memo ordering an immediate freeze on federal grants to non-profits and local governments. It was a rare case of Democrats winning a war of definition, pointing out harm to worthy endeavors. The administration beat a hasty retreat.
Murray took out after RFK Jr. on another front. The thrice married nominee is a notorious philanderer. Wife No. 2 hanged herself in the midst of divorce proceedings. A writer for New York magazine was recently suspended, apparently for steamy phone conversations with the candidate she was covering.
A family baby sitter once accused RFK, Jr, of workplace impropriety. “Did you make sexual advances towards Miss Comey without her consent?” asked Murray. Kennedy replied that the claim had been “discredited.” How, then, to explain an apologetic phone call in which RFK said he was “not a church boy” and had “so many skeletons in my closet.”
Murray has also been in the forefront of efforts to curb sexual harassment in the military. She can speak to the subject from experience. As a newly arrived member of the Senate, she was groped in a senators-only elevator by South Carolina’s 90-something Sen. Strom Thurmond.
“Sperm” Thurmond did not recognize Murray as a colleague and hit on her. The gentlelady was elected in part in reaction to accusations and instances of sexual impropriety that ended the career of incumbent Sen. Brock Adams.
Murray has taken on some trappings of a senior senator. Unlike her Oregon colleagues, she does not hold town meetings. Home state schedules are mapped out far in advance, very largely made up of events spotlighting Murray’s issues and featuring Murray’s supporters. Press conferences are few, topics limited and only a few questions allowed. Protective handlers are omnipresent. The unguarded “mom in tennis shoes” is of the distant past.
But, as predecessor Sen. Warren Magnuson liked to say, the meeting doesn’t begin ‘till she gets there. And when Murray arrives, she’s there to advocate for human health and defend the vital signs of democracy.
The handlers can take lessons from the determined gentlelady. She is one tough cookie.
This article also appeared in The Cascade Advocate.
