WASHINGTON (States Newsroom) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. secured Senate confirmation Thursday to become secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, overcoming concerns about dozens of false or misleading statements he has made regarding vaccine safety.
The 52-48 vote puts Kennedy, an environmental lawyer who has no background in health care or running a major organization, at the helm of one of the largest federal departments. Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was the only member of the GOP to oppose Kennedy’s confirmation.
HHS receives more than $1.7 trillion in government funding annually and houses some of the nation’s most prominent agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Food and Drug Administration, Indian Health Service, National Institutes of Health and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Most Republicans fall in line
Many GOP senators were skeptical of Kennedy’s nomination during hearings in the Finance and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees, but ultimately voted to confirm him.
Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, chairman of the HELP Committee, gave a floor speech detailing multiple commitments from Kennedy and President Donald Trump that ultimately led Cassidy to support the nomination.
Among the assurances are that Kennedy will work within the current vaccine approval and safety monitoring systems and not establish parallel systems, maintain the CDC advisory committee on immunization practices recommendations without changes and keep statements on the CDC’s website that state vaccines do not cause autism.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, announced Wednesday in a social media post that she would support Kennedy’s confirmation, though she wrote she continued “to have concerns about Mr. Kennedy’s views on vaccines and his selective interpretation of scientific studies, which initially caused my misgivings about his nomination.”
“Vaccines have saved millions of lives, and I sought assurance that, as HHS Secretary, he would do nothing to make it difficult for people to take vaccines or discourage vaccination efforts,” Murkowski wrote.
‘We cannot take this man at his word’
Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., urged Republicans to vote against Kennedy, saying that a vote to confirm him would indicate to Americans that Congress supports his false statements about vaccines and the other conspiracy theories he’s elevated over the years.
“If you ignore the warning signs and confirm RFK Jr., then when the wheels fall off the wagon, you may try to tell yourself you were lied to. But you knew who you were dealing with,” Murray said.
She urged her GOP colleagues not to be “fooled” by commitments and promises Kennedy has made about what he will or won’t do once confirmed.
“We cannot take this man at his word, something he has changed and gone back and forth on time and time again,” Murray said. “But we can take him on his record, which is that he has consistently undermined vaccine confidence, And, by the way, he profited from that.”
Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden told Republican senators that if they voted against confirming Kennedy, they would help stop the spread of vaccine misinformation and keep children safe.
“When disease rates for illnesses that have effective vaccines start to rise across the country and death tolls mount again, we will see Republicans say this is something that could have been prevented,” Wyden said.
GOP senators who voted to confirm Kennedy, he said, “will be responsible for every child that dies as a result of not being vaccinated because it seems they care more about staying in the good graces of Donald Trump than they do about protecting the lives of kids.”
McConnell, a polio survivor, with his vote against Kennedy marked the third time he’s opposed a Trump nominee.
The former Senate Republican leader, who has clashed repeatedly with the president over the years, previously voted against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
McConnell wrote in a statement explaining his vote that “a record of trafficking in dangerous conspiracy theories and eroding trust in public health institutions does not entitle Mr. Kennedy to lead these important efforts.”
“Mr. Kennedy failed to prove he is the best possible person to lead America’s largest health agency,” McConnell wrote. “As he takes office, I sincerely hope Mr. Kennedy will choose not to sow further doubt and division but to restore trust in our public health institutions.”
Kennedy probed on vaccine safety
Senators repeatedly asked Kennedy during his two confirmation hearings about statements on vaccine safety and other conspiracy theories.
Maryland Democratic Sen. Angela Alsobrooks raised concerns during the HELP Committee hearing about Kennedy saying he wanted to remove the “bad scientists” and replace them with “good scientists” at the NIH.
“The question is really whether you intend, as you said, to substitute your judgment for the judgment of these professional scientists and doctors,” Alsobrooks said.
Kennedy testified he wouldn’t “substitute” his judgment for science.
Alsobrooks also asked Kennedy about comments he made in 2021 when he said: “We should not be giving Black people the same vaccine schedule that’s given to whites because their immune system is better than ours.”
Kennedy said that he was referencing studies that suggested “Blacks need fewer antigens.”
Alsobrooks told Kennedy his confirmation would be “dangerous” since parents would look to him for advice about whether to vaccinate their children.
“Your views are dangerous to our state and to our country,” Alsobrooks said.
Conspiracy theories
During the Finance Committee’s hearing, Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet asked a series of questions about previous statements Kennedy has made on various public health issues.
“Mr. Kennedy, did you say that COVID-19 was a genetically engineered bioweapon that targets Black and white people, but spared Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people?” Bennet asked.
Kennedy responded that he “didn’t say it was deliberately targeted.”
Kennedy said he “probably” had made comments that Lyme disease was a military engineered bioweapon.
Kennedy said he wasn’t sure if he had written in one of his books that it is “undeniable that African AIDS is an entirely different disease from Western AIDS,” following a question from Bennet.
Kennedy, however, denied making statements that pesticides cause children to become transgender.
Bennet said he would have those prior Kennedy statements entered into the committee’s official record.
