“NBC News.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President’s candidate, Donald Trump, to direct the Department of Health and Human Services, on Tuesday his first examination for his confirmation for the Senate, when approved his nomination, the Finance Committee thanks to the majority thanks to the majority thanks to the majority Republican and with the opposition of the Democrats.
The Democrats raised their concern about possible conflicts of interest of Kennedy Jr., who finally achieved the support of Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, concerned about his defense in the past of conspiracy theories without foundation against vaccines.
Cassidy, who is a Doctor, said he had serious reservations about whether Kennedy had the necessary skills to direct the health agency, and said he was “battling” with his decision after questioning him in two confirmation hearings last week. In addition to being part of the Finance Committee, Cassidy presides over the health, education, work and pensions committee.
In a statement published on the social network X before the vote, Cassidy said he had “very intense conversations” with Kennedy and the White House during the weekend, and thanked the vice president, JD Vance, “for her honest advice”.
“With the serious commitments that I have received from the government, and the opportunity to advance in the issues on which we agree, such as healthy foods and an American pro agenda, I will vote yes,” said Cassidy.
Kennedy, a descendant of the historic Democratic family, ran to the presidency in 2024, first as a Democrat and then as an independent candidate, before leaving the contest to support Trump. During the campaign for the Republican, Kennedy promoted the campaign Make America Healthy Again (Let’s make the United States again healthy), in which he criticized food manufacturers and unhealthy ingredients.
While some senators of both parties expressed their support for the idea of making food products safer, the questions in the Senate last week revealed other important objections to Kennedy, who was wrong to answer basic questions about Medicaid, a Important area of the Secretary of Health.
The Democratic senators objected what they called significant conflicts of interest if confirmed, including that it could indirectly benefit economically from a pending litigation against a vaccin manufacturer that he would regulate as secretary of the agency.
But among the strongest objections to Kennedy were his repeated denials of the effectiveness of vaccines. At a committee hearing last week, Cassidy repeatedly rebuked the candidate for his refusal to accept science that shows that vaccines do not cause autism.
“I can say that I have approached it using the preponderance of the evidence to reassure and you have approached it using selected evidence to generate doubts,” said Cassidy. The senator will appear at re -election in 2026. He already faced an opponent in the Republican primaries for his vote in favor of condemning Trump in his failed political trial of 2021.