The GOP-controlled Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Wednesday to be the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Kennedy was confirmed 52-48 with every Republican voting in favor except for former party leader Senator Mitch McConnell (Ky.). Democrats unanimously opposed Kennedy’s confirmation despite his long history of left-wing views on abortion and environmental regulation.
The environmental lawyer overcame a bruising confirmation process to win the Health Secretary job, as Democrats homed in on his longstanding opposition to vaccines and promotion of various conspiracy theories, while some Republicans took issue with his record of support for abortion access. During his two-days of confirmation hearings, Kennedy appeared to lack detailed knowledge of health-care policy beyond the issues that form the core of his Make America Healthy Again movement.
A crucial moment for Kennedy’s confirmation came when he secured the support of Senator Bill Cassidy (R., La.) a medical doctor who was concerned about Kennedy’s skepticism of vaccines and history of falsely linking vaccines to autism. Cassidy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said in a statement that he decided to back Kennedy after receiving assurances from Vice President JD Vance. Not long after, Cassidy delivered a speech on the Senate floor where he listed all of the concessions he received from Kennedy on vaccine promotion and congressional access.
Republicans advanced Kennedy’s nomination through the Senate Finance Committee earlier this month along partisan lines thanks to Cassidy’s vote in favor of Kennedy.
On day one of his confirmation hearings, Kennedy addressed Republican concerns about his support for late term abortion and Roe v. Wade as recently as his presidential campaign. Largely deferring to Trump, Kennedy promised pro-lifers he would restore freedom of conscience protections and end federal funding for abortions.
“I thought he handled [abortion] the best way he could. I thought he really good job,” Senator Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.) told National Review inside the Capitol after Kennedy’s confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee.
“He handled it just the way he needed to do.”
Senator James Lankford (R., Okla.), an ordained Baptist minister, asked Kennedy a series of questions about abortion policy issues, including freedom of conscience and whether Kennedy would prohibit federal funds from going to abortion providers.
“He did well answering the questions,” Lankford told NR.
“I understand he and I have a different perspective on the issue of abortion, but in private and then again in public, he said I’m going to follow through on what the president says, and I’m not going to allow mifepristone to be treated differently just because it’s politically expedient to the left,” Lankford added.
At several points during the hearings, Kennedy stumbled over the details of Medicare of Medicaid. Asked to identify the various parts of Medicare, Kennedy incorrectly stated that Part A is “mainly for primary care or physicians,” when it actually provides coverage for seniors who receive inpatient care in hospitals. He similarly failed to describe Parts B and C in detail, prompting pushback from Senate Democrats.
Attempting to placate Democrats, Kennedy labeled himself a “pro-safety” advocate and noted that he vaccinated his children. His current position failed to convince Democrats because of his long held skepticism vaccines and expressions of regret for vaccinating his children.
Voicing opposition to Kennedy, Senate Democrats held the floor through the night to extend their fight against Kennedy’s confirmation for as long as possible. Democrats believe Kennedy’s anti-vaccine viewpoints pose a danger to public health and also accused the nominee of lacking basic knowledge about Medicare and other programs he would be responsible for overseeing.
Kennedy will now be tasked with handling the more than $1.5 trillion HHS budget, giving him control over a vast public health bureaucracy and Medicare and Medicaid.
As the leader of the MAHA movement, Kennedy has sounded the alarm about the rise of chronic disease in America and the poor nutritional options preferred by American consumers. MAHA is broadly skeptical of the fast food industry and harshly critical of the close relationship between pharmaceutical corporations and the public health bureaucracy.
President Donald Trump picked Kennedy to run HHS after Kennedy became one of Trump’s most prominent campaign surrogates down the stretch. After gaining unexpected traction as a Democratic and then independent presidential candidate, Kennedy ended his campaign last summer and threw his weight behind Trump, providing an immediate boost to Trump’s campaign.
Kennedy quickly became a member of the president’s entourage and rallied the MAHA movement towards supporting Trump. Given his long history of left-wing environmentalism, Trump promised to keep Kennedy away from that issue, instead allowing him to go “wild” with healthcare policy.