Before his confirmation, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told the Senate he would give up his 10 percent share of contingency fees in the Gardasil lawsuits against Merck, cases he had referred to his former law firm, Wisner Baum. His amended ethics agreement of February 1, 2025, said he would assign that right “to a non-dependent, adult family member,” and he told senators it would go to his adult son. An August 25, 2026 letter from HHS to Sen. Elizabeth Warren says he did something else: “on February 11, 2025, after further consideration, Secretary Kennedy irrevocably assigned his outstanding contingency-fee interests in the Gardasil cases directly to WisnerBaum.” The Senate confirmed him on February 13, two days later.
Kennedy's son Conor Kennedy works at Wisner Baum, the AP reported. Merck settled the Gardasil suits for $50 million on June 4, 2026, according to the senators. On August 1, 2026, Kennedy posted, “Before taking office, I relinquished any interest in potential Gardasil fees back to the Wisner Baum law firm,” but the senators say HHS's letter was the first disclosure of the change to Congress, and it does not say whether the Office of Government Ethics approved it. They quote OGE's rule that a nominee “may not rescind a commitment in an ethics agreement, such as an agreement to divest an asset, without first obtaining OGE's approval.” HHS's designated ethics official told the Senate committees on May 14, 2025, that Kennedy had provided evidence of his compliance with the agreement.
On September 24 Sens. Warren, Ron Wyden, Richard Blumenthal and Angela Alsobrooks wrote to Kennedy: “Your decision to withhold this information from Congress and apparent failure to report this change to agency ethics officials is deeply alarming.” They wrote that “it appears that Congress voted on your confirmation without having any knowledge of an important change to your February 1, 2025, ethics agreement,” and asked whether any “implicit or explicit agreement” with the firm covers future payments, with answers due October 8. The senators have not claimed he kept the stake; their questions are about the undisclosed change and whether anything was promised in return.
HHS spokeswoman Emily Hilliard told the AP: “Any claim that Secretary Kennedy maintained a financial interest in this litigation after taking office is false.” HHS's letter adds that “it would be incorrect to characterize any financial interests held by an independent adult child as conflicts of interest for the Secretary.” Wisner Baum has told NPR that neither Kennedy nor his family received any of the settlement money; his 2025 disclosure and its $7,000 payment from the firm are covered in Kennedy Disclosed More Than $250,000 in Free Travel From a Campaign Donor and $4 Million in Book Advances.