Chances of the Senate voting down any of President Trump’s Cabinet-level nominees have all but evaporated as initially skeptical Republicans are aligning with his most unconventional picks.

The suspense diminished significantly Tuesday as Republicans banded together to advance the nominations of two former Democrats: Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary. They were rewarded for supporting Mr. Trump.

Ms. Gabbard, a former House member from Hawaii, quit the Democratic Party in 2022 to become an independent and then joined the Republican Party in 2024 to support Mr. Trump. Mr. Kennedy, a scion of the famous Democratic family, abandoned the party to launch an independent bid for president but ultimately dropped out and endorsed Mr. Trump.

Both nominees faced united opposition from Democrats on the respective committees of jurisdiction and had to make commitments to Republican holdouts to earn their votes, but they are now on a glide path to confirmation.

Ms. Gabbard and Mr. Kennedy were two of Mr. Trump’s most unconventional picks, along with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who earned just enough Republican support for confirmation last month when Vice President J.D. Vance stepped in to break a tie.

Many political pundits in Washington considered it improbable that all three nominees would make it through the confirmation process. They cited comments from hesitant Republicans who questioned their qualifications and past statements.

With help from Mr. Trump and his allies, the nominees won over their Republican skeptics.

There do not appear to be enough remaining Republican holdouts to stop Ms. Gabbard or Mr. Kennedy from being confirmed, which some Republicans alluded to after the committee votes on Tuesday.

“Once confirmed, I look forward to working with Ms. Gabbard to keep America safe and to bring badly needed reforms to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence,” Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican and chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence, said after his panel’s closed-door 9-8 vote to advance her nomination.

Ms. Gabbard and Mr. Kennedy can afford up to three Republican defections on the floor if all Democrats oppose them.

The remaining holdouts for Mr. Kennedy are the same three Republicans who voted against Mr. Hegseth’s nomination: Sens. Susan M. Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Ms. Collins, who serves on the intelligence committee, announced her support for Ms. Gabbard on Monday. Ms. Murkowski and Mr. McConnell have not revealed whether they will back her.

Even Democrats, who once hoped that a few “unqualified” nominees could be defeated, acknowledged there likely won’t be enough Republican opponents to derail any of the president’s Cabinet-level picks.

“The Republicans are falling into line,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat. “They’re intimidated by the threats they’re receiving from Donald Trump and the billionaires around him to invest $100 million in a primary opponent.”

Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, the Republican who withheld his support for Mr. Kennedy until minutes before the Senate Finance Committee vote Tuesday, is up for reelection in 2026 and likely to face competition from the right. He insisted that was not factored into his decision.

“I promise you, being up for reelection had absolutely zero to do with this,” Mr. Cassidy told reporters.

Mr. Kennedy’s nomination also advanced along party lines in a 14-13 vote.

Sen. Todd Young of Indiana was the last Republican holdout for Ms. Gabbard, which he acknowledged gave him a lot of leverage to secure commitments from her. He said the narrative that her confirmation was likely doomed was overblown.

“I think the expectation among some — not those within the administration, but in the media and elsewhere — was that either I could never get there or that there was no forward progress, but there was along the way,” he said.

Mr. Young said Ms. Gabbard delivered her concessions “at the eleventh hour.” On Tuesday morning, hours before the committee vote, he shared a letter Ms. Gabbard sent him memorializing her commitments and announced his support for her nomination.

Ms. Gabbard promised to seek justice against any intelligence community employee or contractor who leaks intelligence secrets and not to recommend a pardon for Edward Snowden, who exposed the National Security Agency’s widespread electronic spying on Americans.

She vowed to work with lawmakers to reauthorize Section 702 authorities of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which she opposed as a member of the House over concerns that Section 702 allows Americans’ data to be caught up in warrantless surveillance of foreigners.

Mr. Cassidy created more suspense by waiting until the Finance Committee had convened to vote on Mr. Kennedy’s nomination to announce his support.

The committee vote fell along party lines, 14-13.

Mr. Cassidy, a doctor and chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, had questioned Mr. Kennedy over his past views challenging the efficacy of vaccines.

He said he changed his mind after the Trump administration committed to extensive collaboration on vaccine information and other health matters.

“We will meet or speak multiple times a month,” Mr. Cassidy said on the Senate floor. “This collaboration will allow us to work well together and therefore to be more effective.”

Mr. Cassidy said Mr. Vance played a heavy role in persuading him to let Mr. Kennedy lead the Department of Health and Human Services, a sprawling agency with a $1.7 trillion budget that oversees food and drugs, disease-fighting efforts and major insurance programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

Mr. Vance also spoke with Mr. Young about Ms. Gabbard.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, Idaho Republican, said Mr. Kennedy, whose slogan is “Make America Healthy Again,” would bring much-needed change to the health landscape in America. The U.S. spends more than other advanced nations on health care but tends to have worse outcomes.

Although Mr. Kennedy appears to have enough support to be confirmed on the floor, Mr. Crapo declined to predict the outcome.

Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, did not say Mr. Kennedy’s confirmation is inevitable.

“This is not over yet. We are going to keep fighting for every possible vote on the floor,” he said. “This is the most unqualified nominee I have encountered in my more than 40 years in public service.”

Mr. Kennedy will oversee a sweeping portfolio that involves many facets of America’s regulatory landscape and health. He could help guide Americans’ nutritional choices. He is also expected to crack down on additives in food products and target the cozy relationship between drug companies and government officials who regulate them.

In addition, Mr. Kennedy has pledged to attack the root causes of diseases and conditions such as autism.

“20 years ago, autism in children was 1 in 10,000. NOW IT’S 1 in 34. WOW! Something’s really wrong. We need BOBBY!!!” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social before the committee vote.

Mr. Kennedy’s willingness to push unsubstantiated links between autism and vaccines gave some senators pause.

“Mr. Kennedy was given ample opportunity on a bipartisan basis to recant his decades-long career peddling anti-vaccine conspiracies,” Mr. Wyden said. “Instead, he spent his time with us dodging and weaving and gave no indication that if confirmed as HHS secretary, he would stand by the long-settled science surrounding routine vaccinations.”

Mr. Cassidy said he shared those concerns but gained major concessions from Mr. Kennedy. The senator said the nominee pledged not to erase parts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website that say vaccines don’t cause autism.

Sen. Thom Tillis, North Carolina Republican, said he supports Mr. Kennedy “breaking some glass” at HHS to help Americans get healthier and that lawmakers will have the oversight process to ensure he doesn’t go too far.

“If he goes too far, I’ll be the first person to step up [and say], ‘He went too far,’” Mr. Tillis said.

• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.

• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.