Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed by the Senate in a mostly party-line 52-48 vote Thursday morning.
All 45 Senate Democrats and the two nominal independents who caucus with them voted “no.” They were joined by one Republican, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who also joined Democrats on Wednesday voting against confirmation of former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence.
Since disbanding his 2024 presidential campaign and joining Donald Trump’s campaign, Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” message has become a major part of the new Republican agenda.
Speaking at the charity Al Smith dinner in New York in October, Trump jokingly said of Kennedy, “We’re going to let him go wild, then I’m going to have to maybe rein him back, because he’s got some pretty wild ideas, but most of them are really good, I think.”
Kennedy’s confirmation is a triumph of the Trump administration’s work with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the rest of Senate<
The HHS nominee’s confirmation at one point appeared in doubt, as Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., had a tense exchange over Kennedy’s insinuations that some vaccines could be linked to autism.
However, after Vice President JD Vance spoke with Cassidy and offered several commitments from the administration, Cassidy agreed to allow Kennedy’s nomination to advance to a full Senate vote, effectively securing the confirmation.
Kennedy faced fierce opposition from Senate Democrats throughout his confirmation process.
Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Cal., said that Kennedy would “make America sick again,” and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., accused him of lacking the expertise for the job.
But the HHS nominee gained enthusiastic supporters in Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Steve Daines, R-Mont.
Johnson delivered an emotional thank you to Kennedy during his first Senate confirmation hearing in January, saying that Kennedy’s alliance with the GOP to address chronic diseases was “an answer to [his] prayers.”
Daines also showered praise on Kennedy’s pledge to make the HHS the gold standard of data-driven science.
“We need more of that. Take away the partisan politics,” Daines told The Daily Signal after Kennedy’s first of two confirmation hearings.
Kennedy, like the newly minted Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, was until recently a lifelong Democrat and an unorthodox nominee who will join the administration to advance Trump’s bold agenda.
This article was originally published at www.dailysignal.com
