The Trump White House’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to become Secretary of Health and Human Services on Feb. 4 cleared a key hurdle, passing out of the Senate Finance Committee on a party-line vote, with all 14 Republicans voting to support Kennedy’s nomination and all 13 Democrats opposing it. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) will determine the timing of the full Senate vote on the nomination, but most observers believe that the final vote will take place next week.
The New York Times’s Sheryl Gay Stolberg wrote on Tuesday morning that “The Senate Finance Committee voted on Tuesday to forward the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the full Senate, setting up a vote on whether Mr. Kennedy, one of the nation’s most vociferous critics of vaccines, should become the nation’s next health secretary. Senator Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican and a physician who has been on the fence about Mr. Kennedy, cast the deciding vote, after days of publicly agonizing over what to do. The final tally was split along party lines: 14 Republicans voted yes, and all 13 Democrats opposed him.”
Meanwhile, the Washington Post’s Dan Diamond, Lauren Weber, and Rachel Roubein wrote on Tuesday morning that “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is now one step closer to running the nation’s health agencies after a Senate panel voted narrowly Tuesday to advance the nomination of President Donald Trump’s controversial pick to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. The longtime anti-vaccine activist — who has been widely opposed by public health experts and Democrats — could soon be confirmed for a sweeping post to oversee Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act; coordinating the public health response to epidemics; and the process of approving pharmaceutical drugs, vaccines and other medical supplies. Kennedy and his supporters insist he would bring an overdue focus to problems such as chronic disease.”
To read the full article, see "BREAKING: Kennedy HHS Nomination Clears Key Committee Vote," which originally appeared on Healthcare Innovation, an Endeavor Business Media partner site.
Mark Hagland
Mark Hagland is Editor-in-Chief of HPN's sister publication, Healthcare Innovation.
