RFK’s Jr.’s Nomination Reportedly in Trouble After ‘Really Difficult’ Hearings

(AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s two days on Capitol Hill may have done more to hurt than help his chances of being confirmed as President Donald Trump’s secretary of health and human services.

According to The Dispatch’s John McCormack, Kennedy’s appearances before the Senate Finance and Health Committee’s have placed his nomination in a precarious position.

“Heading into Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearings, his allies were confident that at least one or two members of the Democratic caucus, such as Bernie Sanders of Vermont or John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, would vote to confirm Kennedy as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services—more than enough to offset any Republican ‘no’ votes,” wrote McCormack.

But now, after Kennedy sparred with Sanders during and received mixed reviews for his performance in both hearings, his path is much cloudier.

“I’m not really sure how much support is going to emerge after that,” said Fetterman after Kennedy’s first at-bat. “I think we can all agree that was a really difficult performance.”

Moreover, his inability to reassure Health Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA) that he doesn’t believe vaccines cause children to contract autism does not bode well for his chances of holding on to the number of Republicans he needs to, now that he appears to have alienated Fetterman and Sanders.

Here’s how McCormack sees it:

If Democrats unanimously oppose Kennedy, there’s a decent chance that there could be four Republican votes necessary to defeat him. In addition to Cassidy, Mitch McConnell, a polio survivor, is another potential “no” vote. McConnell, plus moderates Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, already voted against a Trump Cabinet nominee once when Pete Hegseth’s nomination came up for a vote to be secretary of defense. During Thursday’s committee hearing, Collins asked serious questions without tipping her hand about how she would vote, while Murkowski was more conciliatory toward Kennedy. The Alaska senator requested that Kennedy speak positively about vaccines but didn’t actually ask him any questions about vaccines. Utah freshman John Curtis is another Republican senator who could conceivably vote against Kennedy.

As a doctor and chairman of the health committee vetting Kennedy, Cassidy’s vote could be the most influential of all. Cassidy left the door open to Kennedy reassuring him, but the Louisiana senator seemed genuinely anguished about the harm Kennedy could do as the United States’ top public-health official.