Cassidy criticizes Hegseth after flu outbreak at Texas Air Force base

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on Sunday knocked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after an outbreak of influenza infected several service members at an Air Force base in Texas.

Cassidy, a licensed gastroenterologist and the first physician to chair the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, told CBS News’s Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” that “we do see the consequences, though, of ignoring the benefits that things like vaccines bring for public health.”

“And if you will, I think what you’re going after is that this administration, parts of it, have tried to downplay the importance of immunization,” he said.

“The Secretary of War, Hegseth, recently did away with the flu mandate, and then there was a big outbreak of flue in one of their military outfits,” Cassidy said.

The senator recalled the deaths caused by the 1918 flu pandemic in Germany during World War I.

“Combat readiness means preventing disease, and if you want to be combat-ready, you don’t want everybody out with the flu,” he said.

The number of flu cases at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas rose to 275 on Wednesday, an increase from 160 the week before, according to Rep. Joaquin Castro’s (D-Texas) office. One Air Force recruit died on June 16, though it is not clear if the death was connected to the outbreak. The death remains under investigation.

The Hill has reached out to the Air Force for comment.

Hegseth defended the decision in April to end the military’s mandatory flu vaccines for service members, arguing the changes are giving troops “medical autonomy” and “freedom to express their religious convictions.”

“Our new policy is simple,” Hegseth said in a video message posted to social media. “If you, an American warrior entrusted to defend this nation, believe that the flu vaccine is in your best interest, then you’re free to take it. You should. But we will not force you. Because your body, your faith are not negotiable.”

He denounced the requirement as an “absurd” and “overreaching” mandate that weakens the country’s warfighting capabilities. The requirement was put in place in 1945 and was in sidestep with public health directives.

“Our men and women in uniform were forced to choose between their conscience and their country, even when those decisions posed no threat to our military readiness,” Hegseth said of the previous guidelines at the time.

“The notion that a flu vaccine must be mandatory for every service member everywhere in every circumstance at all times is just overly broad and not rational.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist, has directed policy changes over vaccination guidance in the U.S. Emails released by HELP committee ranking member Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) showed Kennedy also directed the cancellation of flu vaccine campaigns during a more intense flu season.