The Senate confirms Robert F Kennedy Jr. To act as Trump’s health secretary

On Thursday, the Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. As Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary of President Donald Trump’s cabinet.

The Republican controlled Senate voted 52-48 almost completely along party lines to confirm Kennedy. The last showdown over his controversial nomination was set in motion hours earlier, after another Party Line vote on Wednesday afternoon, which started the clock that ticked against the confirmation roll call.

Kennedy, the well-known vaccine skeptical and environmental crusader who ran for the White House in 2024, before ending his bid and approved Trump, needed a simple majority to be confirmed by the Senate.

Senator Mitch McConnell from Kentucky was the only Republican who voted against Kennedy’s nomination. McConnell, the former long -time GOP senate leader, suffered from polio as a child and is an important spokesman for vaccines.

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Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominees to act as secretary of health and human services, 2025 in Washington, DC (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Kennedy survived Back-to-back flammable Senate Confirmation Hearings Late Last Month, when Trump’s nominees to lead 18 powerful federal agencies that oversee the country’s food and health, face plenty of verbal fireworks over past controversial comments, including his repeated claims in in recent years connects vaccines to autism that has been debunked by scientific research.

During the consultations, the Democrats also highlighted Kennedy’s service for years as chairman or head of legal adviser to the Children’s Health Defense, the nonprofit organization he founded that has advocated against vaccines and sued the federal government several times, including a challenge over the approval of it Vaccine against Covid-19 For children.

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With Democrats in the Senate Finance Committee who voted for not promoting Kennedy, the limelight was on Senator Bill CassidyR-LA., A physician and chairman of the Senate Committee for Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (Help).

Cassidy issued an endorsement at the last minute before voting at the committee level, giving Kennedy a party line 14-13 victory to promote his confirmation to the full Senate.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Center, President Donald Trump’s nominated to act as secretary of health and human services, talking with committee chairman Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La., Left, after his testimony during a Senate Committee for Health, Education, labor and pensions consultation for his pending confirmation of Capitol Hill on Thursday 30 January 2025 in Washington, DC (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Cassidy had emphasized during Kennedy’s confirmation hearings that “your past by undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns me”, which left doubts about his support.

However, after talking again to the nominated, Cassidy raised a long list of obligations Kennedy made him, including quarterly hearings before the Auxiliary Committee; meets several times a month; This Help Committee may elect representatives in boards or commissions undergoing vaccine security; And a 30-day notice to the committee plus a consultation for any changes in vaccine security reviews.

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“These obligations, and my expectation that we can have a great deal of cooperation to make America healthy again, is the basis for my support,” the senator said.

RFK Jr. and Trump Split pic (Getty Images)

Earlier this week, another Republican Senator, who had reservations regarding Kennedy’s confirmation, announced support for the nominees.

“After extensive public and private questions and a thorough study of his nomination, I will support Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” Gop Sen. Susan Collins from Maine Tuesday.

Another Republican who was on the fence voted late. Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, also to promote Kennedy’s nomination.

Murkowski noted that she continues to “be concerned about Mr. Kennedy’s view of vaccines and his selective interpretation of scientific studies”, but that the nominee “has committed me several obligations to me and my colleagues who promise to work with Congress for To ensure public access to information and to basic vaccine recommendations on data -driven, evidence -based and medically healthy research.

The former long -time Senate GOP leader Senator Mitch McConnell, an important spokesman for vaccines, also voted to promote Kennedy’s nomination.

Kennedy, if obvious views of Big Pharma And the food industry has also given rise to controversy, has said that he is aiming to shift the focus of the agencies he would oversee the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, including revision of dietary guidelines aimed at ultra-processed foods and comes to the basic causes of chronic diseases.

Push is part of his “Make America Healthy Again” campaign.

“Our country will not be destroyed because we get the marginal tax rate wrong. It will be destroyed if we get this question wrong,” Kennedy said as he pointed to chronic illnesses. “And I’m in a unique position to be able to stop this epidemic.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Speaking at a campaign event for this independent presidential bidding on May 1, 2024 in New York City Borough of Brooklyn. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

The 71-year-old scion of the country’s most large political dynasty launched a long-shot campaign for the democratic presidential election against then President Joe Biden in April 2023. Six months later, he switched to an independent race for the White House.

Trump regularly put Kennedy under his independent presidential bid and accused him of being a “radical left liberal” and a “democratic plant.”

Kennedy fired back and claimed in a social media post that Trump’s jabs against him were “a button coherent blocking of wild and inaccurate claims.”

The then President Donald Trump, Right, offers Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Welcome to the stage at a campaign management at Gas South Arena on October 23, 2024 in Duluth, Georgia. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

However, Kennedy gave big headlines again last August when he dropped his presidential bidder and approved Trump.

While Kennedy had long identified himself as a Democrat and repeatedly called on his late father, former Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and his late uncle, former President John F. Kennedy – who were both murdered in the 1960s – built Kennedy in the later years relationship with height-right leaders who are partly due to his high-profile vaccine skepticism.

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After months of criticism of him, Trump called Kennedy “a man who has been an incredible master of so many of these values ​​that we all share.”

Trump announced shortly after the November election he would nominate Kennedy to his cabinet to run HHS.

The final vote on Kennedy’s nomination came one day after the other controversial election, director of the National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, was confirmed by the Senate in a 52-48 vote.

Fox News’ Tchad Pergram contributed to this report