Senate panel vote clears the way for Kennedy to become health secretary

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s nominee to pb the sprawling national bureaucracy liable for the healthcare of millions of Americans, received the backing of a cardinal Senate committee connected Tuesday contempt his past of denying the subject supporting vaccinations and enactment of disproved aesculapian conspiracy theories.

GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana doc who has vocally struggled with whether to enactment Kennedy, yet voted successful enactment with his enactment successful the look of fierce unit from chap Republicans to enactment the nominee, including threats of a superior situation successful 2026.

Kennedy’s information moved guardant connected a party-line ballot of 14 to 13 successful the Senate Finance Committee.

All eyes were connected Cassidy, a subordinate of the committee who besides chairs different Senate committee successful which helium told Kennedy connected Thursday that helium had “been struggling with your nomination” due to the fact that of Kennedy’s past comments questioning the information of vaccines and refusal to judge subject that shows that puerility immunizations don’t origin autism.

Trump raised the contented of autism soon earlier the proceeding began.

“20 years ago, Autism successful children was 1 successful 10,000. NOW IT’S 1 successful 34. WOW! Something’s truly wrong. We request BOBBY!!! Thank You! DJT,” helium wrote connected his societal media platform.

Cassidy announced his volition to enactment Kennedy’s information connected societal media conscionable earlier the committee voted.

“I’ve had precise aggravated conversations with Bobby and the White House implicit the play and adjacent this morning,” Cassidy wrote connected X. “With the superior commitments I’ve received from the medication and the accidental to marque advancement connected the issues we hold connected similar steadfast foods and a pro-American agenda, I volition ballot yes.”

Cassidy did not talk during the hearing, but different Republican, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, said helium looked guardant to seeing Kennedy instrumentality connected populist issues, specified arsenic reining successful rising cause prices and promoting nutrient safety. But Tillis warned that helium would beryllium keeping an oculus connected Kennedy’s handling of vaccines.

“The lone mode that Bobby Kennedy and I volition get crosswise is if helium does really instrumentality a presumption against the information of proven vaccines,” Tillis said. “That would beryllium a occupation for me.”

Kennedy did not be Tuesday’s hearing. A day for the Senate to ballot connected his information has not been set, but it could hap adjacent week.

Kennedy, 71, is the lad of erstwhile U.S. Atty. Gen. Robert F. Kennedy and a nephew of erstwhile President Kennedy. The Brentwood resident, who is joined to histrion Cheryl Hines, was a Democrat for decades earlier helium unsuccessfully ran for president arsenic an autarkic successful 2024. After helium dropped retired of the contention successful August, Kennedy endorsed Trump, a antheral helium had antecedently labeled a apt “sociopath.”

After winning the November election, Trump nominated Kennedy to beryllium his caput of Health and Human Services, starring a section with a $1.8-billion fund and 90,000 employees. Among the agencies and programs that autumn nether the department’s purview are the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health arsenic good arsenic Medicaid and Medicare.

Public wellness groups and aesculapian officials person assailed the imaginable of putting a self-described “poster kid for the anti-vax movement” in complaint of the nation’s premier wellness and aesculapian probe agencies.

His candidacy and his information besides faced notable absorption from respective of his relatives, astir precocious his relative Caroline Kennedy, who sent senators a scathing missive connected the eve of his archetypal information proceeding past week — the archetypal clip she had spoken retired truthful publically astir his politics.

The sole surviving kid of President Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy served arsenic an ambassador successful 2 Democratic administrations. In the letter, archetypal reported by the Washington Post, she warned that her relative was a “predator” whose views connected vaccinations were disqualifying, and that helium would proceed to nett from a suit against the pharmaceutical institution Merck astir a vaccine that prevents cervical cancer.

“He is consenting to enrich himself by denying entree to a vaccine that tin forestall astir each forms of cervical crab and which has been safely administered to millions of boys and girls,” Caroline Kennedy wrote.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) alluded to those lawsuits Tuesday erstwhile she reiterated her concerns astir Kennedy’s imaginable fiscal conflicts of interest. She said concessions helium made to code specified concerns — specified arsenic agreeing to manus disconnected his fiscal involvement successful definite lawsuits against vaccine makers to his lad — did not spell acold enough.

“He has figured retired however to marque wealth disconnected his anti-vax positions,” Warren said. “He is successful a presumption wherever helium tin impact the outcomes by things helium does arsenic caput of HHS, and yet helium refuses to accidental that helium volition hold by adjacent a time taking connected anti-vax lawsuits the infinitesimal helium leaves.”

Sen. Raphael Warnock, a chap Democrat from Georgia, expressed peculiar interest for the destiny of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I simply bash not spot him to oversee the CDC,” Warnock said. “He’s unqualified, and I situation accidental everybody present knows it.”

In 2 days of Senate hearings past week, Kennedy, who pledged to “make America steadfast again,” faced aggressive questions about his past vocal skepticism of vaccines, clasp of debunked aesculapian claims, fiscal conflicts of involvement and governmental pirouetting connected issues specified arsenic termination rights.

Kennedy, a once-lauded biology attorney, framed the attacks against him arsenic the effect of his willingness to inquire hard questions of entrenched, almighty interests specified arsenic pharmaceutical companies.

He said helium sought to item healthcare issues wherever determination is wide bipartisan agreement, specified arsenic nutrition and substance abuse.

But Kennedy often contradicted his past positions, saying helium was pro-vaccine contempt a well-documented past of questioning their safety, including serving for respective years arsenic the seat of Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that falsely claims puerility vaccines origin autism. He besides stumbled portion answering questions astir the wellness programs helium would pb if helium is confirmed.

Dr. Joseph Varon, president of the Independent Medical Alliance, hailed the committee’s enactment for Kennedy and said helium was looking guardant to the afloat Senate’s ballot adjacent week.

“Americans request a frank speech astir the authorities of our authorities healthcare agencies,” said Varon, a Kennedy state and COVID-19 vaccine critic, successful a statement.

The enactment said its advocacy arm, IMA Action, reached retired to much than 100,000 Kennedy supporters successful Louisiana implicit the play and helped them marque their views known to Cassidy.