The following is the transcript of an interview with Sen. Roger Marshall, Republican of Kansas, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sept. 7, 2025.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to Face the Nation. We turn now to Republican Senator Roger Marshall, who joins us this morning from Wichita, Kansas. Welcome to Face the Nation.
SENATOR ROGER MARSHALL: Margaret, great to be with you. I know it’s going to be a great discussion.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I know you were an OB-GYN in practice for decades before you ran for office. This past week, the HHS Secretary underwent intense questioning from both democratic lawmakers, and some of your fellow Republicans, who were also doctors. Take a listen.
((BEGIN VIDEO CLIP))
SENATOR JOHN BARRASSO: Secretary Kennedy, in your confirmation hearing, you promised to uphold the highest standards for vaccines. Since then, I’ve grown deeply concerned.
SENATOR BILL CASSIDY: I would say, effectively, we’re denying people vaccine.
((END VIDEO CLIP))
MARGARET BRENNAN: That’s the Republican Whip, and that is the Chair of the Committee, Bill Cassidy. Why do you think they’re off base and they’re concerned?
SEN. MARSHALL: Look, President Trump chose Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be a disrupter to the CDC, and that’s exactly what he’s doing. He’s focused on making the CDC more transparent, to make it more trustworthy right now. Right now, Americans don’t trust the CDC, so he is literally turning that place upside down. I respect what my colleagues are saying, but I think that, you know, this whole issue today, or in that meeting, was about vaccines. In my humble opinion, not every person needs every vaccine. And I don’t think there’s many children out there that need 76 jabs by the time they’re old enough to vote. But before you label me a non-vaxxer-person, look, I’ve raised money for polio vaccinations. The MMR is a great vaccine. It saved thousands of lives. Vaccines, overall, have saved hundreds of millions of lives, but not every person needs every vaccine. And we just want to empower parents and the doctors to make great decisions.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, I just want to unpack a few things you said there, and just very- because we want to be very careful in this very heated environment. When you say you have a problem with trusting the CDC, it was just a few weeks ago a gunman walked onto the CDC campus in Atlanta and shot the place up. Do you care to respond to that? And do you think that we need to be careful when we are discussing the CDC and public health officials right now?
SEN. MARSHALL: Well, look, of course, I condemn that shooting. But the lack of confidence in the CDC goes back to what the CDC did during Covid. They misguided us, maybe lied to us, even, about the origins of Covid, and how to treat it, as well. And the vaccine, they over-promised what the vaccine could do as well. So that’s where the distrust is. And now, Bobby Kennedy is in there, trying to clean-up that distrust, and trying to give American parents and grandparents and the doctors the right information, transparent information, to make good decisions.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, just before we talk about other vaccines, specific to Covid, and what you just said with the CDC; it was- the pandemic was during the Trump administration. It began during the Trump administration, and Operation Warp Speed was a Presidential Directive by Trump, which some of your fellow Republicans say he deserves the Nobel Prize for because it stopped the pandemic. So, did you trust the CDC and Operation Warp Speed under President Trump, or are you saying you don’t think the President deserves the prize for that shot?
SEN. MARSHALL: Look President Trump absolutely deserves the Nobel prize. That vaccine saved millions of lives —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Okay, but you just said something that sounded very contradictory to that. —
SEN. MARSHALL: I disagree. I think it’s such a different time today than it was five years ago. Five years ago, we had a novel virus. None of us had any immunity to it. It was a strange virus made in a lab in Wuhan, China. But today, on average, Americans have had Covid five times. We now have natural immunity to it, and not everybody needs the vaccine. So both things can be true, and that’s why, when you have people who don’t understand science, that don’t understand medicine, why they don’t get it. It was a different day then than it is today.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, but people do understand that when they go into their pharmacy and have a problem getting a shot. Because in many states, they are now told they need to go back and get a prescription, that the effect, here, of the Kennedy policies are making it more difficult, even if they fall into categories where they should be able to get a shot. You would acknowledge that?
SEN. MARSHALL: Yeah. Yeah, I think you’re making this way, way too complicated. That- look, vaccines are a medicine, and just like you need a prescription to get a GLP-1 —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Right. You said he’s disrupting. But, effectively, what you were hearing the Republican Whip John Barrasso, and the Republican Senator Bill Cassidy talk about was the interruption of the availability of vaccine. Cassidy said, I would say, effectively, we’re denying people vaccines. That’s not Margaret Brennan, that’s Bill Cassidy.
SEN. MARSHALL: Look, I disagree, respectfully disagree. Think about this, what the CDC is now saying is if you’re over the age of 65, you can have the vaccine. It’s interesting that the UK and France have set 75 and 80 as the age. So, all you need to do is email or call your doctor’s nurse and get a prescription, and you should be able to get it. If you’re over the age of 6 months, it’s probably a good idea to talk to your doctor. And all your nurse has to do is look at the chart and say, oh, little Johnny’s got asthma, definitely needs the vaccination as well. So I think we’re making this way too complicated. Why does everybody lose their minds when it comes to Covid vaccine? Why can’t we let the doctor and the parents decide? Let the patients decide. There’s so many more important things out there we should be talking about: Chronic diseases, 20% of our adolescents have obesity, mental health problems in- and are on prescription drugs. There’s so many more things to talk about than just Covid vaccines.
MARGARET BRENNAN: No, but I think we’re conflating a few things, including the operational aspect of this. I think people get frustrated with their insurance companies. I think people get frustrated with their pharmacies and the implementation of health policy. And you know that that’s more complicated than just saying we’re changing a few things here. There are big implications, and I want to talk to you about it because you said you like the MMR vaccine. You like DPT, Polio, Smallpox. You don’t like Hepatitis B, which is a liver infection, and you don’t think newborn kids need to be vaccinated against it. Senator Cassidy, who is a liver doctor, said he treated poor and underserved patients and that it can be a life-altering condition for the rest of your life. So why isn’t it a compelling argument to you, that this should be available?
SEN. MARSHALL: I delivered a baby- delivered a baby every day for 25 years. We did a Hepatitis test on every one of my patients at the time of delivery. If that mom has a negative Hepatitis test, she’s in a stable, monogamous relationship, she’s not doing IV drugs, she’s not letting her baby play in a sandbox full of used needles, then there’s zero chance that that baby’s going to have Hepatitis. Now, there’s other moms that- or other babies that do need it, okay. We need to be more specific. We can’t be overly-prescriptive. If that mom has not had prenatal care, if she’s an IV drug-abuser, if she’s not in a stable relationship, a whole lot of reasons, but we need to pick-and-choose. Not every baby needs Hepatitis vaccine, and especially on day number one. What are these vaccines doing to mess with the immune system of that particular baby as well? So, that’s my concern. It’s not every baby needs Hepatitis-B vaccine.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And I understand it can also be spread from- in a household sharing toothbrushes or razors or, for example, if her partner was not monogamous, the pregnant lady, for example. But I hear your point here that you want this to be more bespoke, like, more picking-and-choosing. But others would argue, here, that in doing that, you’re going to drive down immunization rates overall, if you create broader doubt in vaccines, and that it’s a slippery slope, here. Are you at all concerned that that is going to be the takeaway?
SEN. MARSHALL: Look, Anthony Fauci did more to create vaccine hesitancy than Bobby Kennedy will do in his four years, or eight years, however long he has Secretary. That’s where the problem is. So, don’t blame Bobby Kennedy for the problems created by Anthony Fauci. But this- but I’m just telling —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — I’m asking you about what you said about the Hepatitis-B vaccine.
SEN. MARSHALL: I’m sorry. Go ahead.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I wasn’t talking about Bobby Kennedy, or Secretary Kennedy. I was talking about you, and what you said about the Hepatitis-B vaccine, and are you concerned that picking-and-choosing these things like this, this bespoke concept of giving more choice, that it also has the effect of undermining confidence in vaccines?
SEN. MARSHALL: I think this is a big difference between Democrats and Republicans. Democrats want a one-size-fits-all prescription for everybody. And I’m telling you, not everybody reads the- reads the book does exactly like that. I have confidence in doctors, and nurses, and parents, and grandparents to make these decisions. I don’t think that we should have one government policy that dictates every one of these vaccines. I think local policy, local schools, if they want to have requirements, what Florida did was a bridge too far. But how about just a little common sense? Just a little common sense would go a long ways here.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, because President Trump said he had some doubts about that Florida statement you just mentioned there, too, and that he likes a lot of vaccines. Before I let you go, Secretary Kennedy founded this group that is arguing that women taking Tylenol or Acetaminophen might be putting their babies at risk. They claim there’s a link to neurodevelopmental disorders. Would you take- tell a pregnant woman to take a Tylenol and not feel worried about it?
SEN. MARSHALL: Look, Tylenol is a Category-B drug. I’ve given it to lots of patients. It’s on the approved- approved list. But, that being said, I try to tell my patients- my pregnant woman, not to take anything, because we don’t know what we don’t know. I’m very cautious. You know, why- why did 20% of our children have some type of mental health illness right now? Why do we have so many peanut allergies? Why do we have so many people with autoimmune diseases? We- so we don’t know. What we don’t know, we don’t know, and I want gold standard studies to help us figure this out and sort it out. But as far as I know, Tylenol is okay in pregnancy.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Thank you, Senator, we’ll leave it there for today. We’ll be right back.
