Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been confirmed as the Health Secretary of the United States.
The Senate voted to confirm Kennedy 52-48 to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Most Republicans voted in favor of Kennedy except for Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell, who sided with Democrats in the vote.
A few hours later, Kennedy was sworn in as the 26th HHS Secretary in the Oval Office by Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Neil Gorsuch.
The Washington Post reported that as a child polio survivor, McConnell is an "ardent" supporter of vaccines, though his party has embraced vaccine skepticism in recent years.
“A vote to confirm Mr. Kennedy is a vote I truly believe many, many Republicans and most Americans will eventually very deeply regret,” said Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, who suggested that a secret vote on RFK’s nomination—where Republicans who voted against him were not identified—would yield a different result.
Editor's note: Read full coverage of today's Senate vote, Kennedy's swearing-in and industry reactions here. For more on the Make America Healthy Again commission established shortly after by President Donald Trump, see here.
Senate Democrats rail against Kennedy in late-night session
Following a procedural vote Wednesday to push forward the nomination vote, Senate Democrats held the floor late into the a.m. as a protest against Kennedy's nomination.
While the lawmakers' Thursday speeches centered on Kennedy's views and qualifications, opponents and supporters also took time to address Republicans' early steps toward drafting a reconciliation package. A budget framework that came out of the House yesterday tasks the Energy and Commerce Committee to slash spending by $880 billion over 10 years, which would likely involve major Medicaid reform.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, accused Republicans of teeing up massive cuts to the program and planning to "kick millions of Americans off of their health insurance in order to help fund more tax cuts to billionaires." He painted Kennedy's inexperience with government healthcare programs as a step toward those goals.
"During his confirmation hearing on everything from abortion to vaccines to Medicare and Medicaid, Mr. Kennedy was given ample opportunity to go on the record about how he would improve these programs, bring down costs, save taxpayers money and improve care," Wyden said. "Instead, he showed a complete lack of understanding of the basics on Medicaid and how it functions. I personally believe it shouldn’t be too much to ask for the future CEO of Medicaid to understand how important it is to provide affordable coverage to millions of families.
“Republicans, with Donald Trump at the helm, are steering our country toward a healthcare cliff. Their ultimate objective is to take away Medicaid from as many people as they can,” Wyden continued.
Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, reiterated on the Senate Floor that Kennedy has measured up to the ethical standards required by all Senate confirmees. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, Sent a letter (PDF) last week urging Kennedy to reveal more about his financial interests in litigation against vaccine makers.
“While some of my colleagues continue to question his financial agreements, Mr. Kennedy met and then exceeded the requirements set forth by the Office of Government Ethics,” Crapo said. “Mr. Kennedy has participated in one of the most extensive processes … our Senate puts a nominee through and has succeeded in meeting those standards, and I encourage my colleagues to support his nomination.”
During his first appearance in front of a Senate health committee in late January, Kennedy doubled down on his commitment to “gold-standard science,” stemming the chronic disease epidemic among Americans, and bringing a new level of transparency to HHS.
Kennedy was adamant that his past statements regarding vaccine efficacy were mischaracterized.
A tense hearing in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee followed, where Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D., R-Illinois, grilled Kennedy on his views on vaccines.
Despite the exchange, the Senate Finance Committee advanced Kennedy's nomination to be the Secretary of HHS on Feb. 4, when Cassidy’s wavering vote was revealed to favor Kennedy.
In a speech on the Senate floor after the hearing last week, Cassidy defended his crucial vote to endorse Kennedy for Health Secretary on the premise of his personal oversight of Kennedy and HHS.
Cassidy based his endorsement on a series of commitments he received over the weekend from Kennedy and the Trump administration and their promise to foster an “unprecedentedly close relationship” between the two men.
Cassidy said he believes Kennedy will follow mainstream science on vaccine safety and restore trust in federal health agencies.
To this end, Kennedy committed to meeting or speaking multiple times per month with Cassidy and to appear before the Senate HELP Committee quarterly if requested by senators. Cassidy will also give his input on hiring decisions at HHS to ensure mainstream views are represented in the department, the senator said Tuesday.
“Regarding vaccines, Mr. Kennedy has been insistent that he just wants good science to ensure safety,” Cassidy said. “But on this topic this science is good, this science is credible [sic] … But as someone who has discussed immunizations with thousands of people, I do recognize that many mothers need reassurance that the vaccine their child is receiving is necessary, effective and most of all, safe.”
Kennedy repeatedly committed to Senators to “follow the science” on vaccines and to not sow public mistrust in the efficacy of vaccines as Health Secretary.
“I am not going to go into HHS and impose my pre-ordained opinions … I'm going to empower the scientists at HHS to do their job,” RFK Jr. said to the HELP committee.