President-elect Trump’s pick of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) set off immediate alarm among Democrats and public health experts, but so far the reception among key Senate Republicans has ranged from enthusiastic to open-minded.
Kennedy is a prominent vaccine skeptic who argues the rise of chronic diseases in America can be traced to ultra-processed foods, environmental toxins and chemical additives. He also blames fluoridated water and vaccines, and wants to increase access to raw milk.
“RFK Jr. has championed issues like healthy foods and the need for greater transparency in our public health infrastructure,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said in a statement Thursday. “I look forward to learning more about his other policy positions and how they will support a conservative, pro-American agenda.”
Cassidy will lead the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee next session. The HELP Committee has jurisdiction over most health nominees, but Kennedy’s nomination will run through the Senate Finance Committee.
If all Democrats on the committee oppose him, it will take only a few GOP defectors to sink the nomination.
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), the expected chair of the Finance Committee, said in a statement he was also looking forward to learning more about Kennedy’s agenda.
“RFK Jr. has prioritized addressing chronic diseases through consumer choice and healthy lifestyle. American patients, providers and taxpayers deserve a health care system that is efficient, effective and affordable. I look forward to considering his nomination before the Finance Committee,” Crapo said.
Kennedy has spent years questioning the safety of vaccines and other drugs. The notion that he could potentially run the agencies that regulate them has spooked Wall Street, as well as many prominent voices in public health.
Kennedy faced a range of scandals since launching his independent run for president, from revelations about dumping a dead bear in Central Park to engaging in a romantic, though not physical, relationship with a well-known magazine reporter. He is also twice divorced and has admitted to being a serial philanderer and heavy drug user as a younger man.
“I told my wife the other day, I said, ‘I got so many skeletons in my closet that if they could vote, I could be king of the world,’” Kennedy said last year when he launched his presidential campaign.
Kennedy was the latest controversial Cabinet pick from Trump, who appears to be testing the loyalty of his Republican allies in Congress. But his nomination has not raised as much GOP skepticism as former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for attorney general, or even Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host and military veteran, to lead the Pentagon.
Still, Democrats and public health experts are urging senators to block his nomination.
“There is no telling how far a fringe conspiracy theorist like RFK Jr. could set back America in terms of public health, reproductive rights, research and innovation, and so much else,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said in a statement.
“Confirming RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary would be nothing short of a disaster for the health of millions of families,” she added.
Kennedy is an environmental lawyer with no formal health or medical degree, or experience running a government agency or large business. If confirmed, he will take over a sprawling agency with a budget of nearly $2 trillion. It has 13 subagencies that are responsible for administering federal health programs including Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
HHS is also responsible for responding to diseases and public health threats like COVID-19 and bird flu, as well as approving new drugs, including vaccines. Experts say almost every aspect of Americans’ lives are touched in some way by HHS.
Republicans will have 53 seats next year, and Kennedy only needs 51 to be confirmed.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who sits on the Finance Committee, offered high praise of Kennedy.
“He’s a brilliant, courageous truth-teller whose unwavering commitment to transparency will make America a healthier nation,” Johnson said in a post Thursday on social platform X after Kennedy’s nomination was announced.
In a “Fox & Friends” interview Friday, Johnson elaborated.
“I’m a big supporter of him. I think Bobby Kennedy can probably have the most, make the most significant impact on America’s health than probably anybody,” Johnson said.
Kennedy also was praised by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), another Finance Committee member.
“As Secretary of Health and Human Services, [Kennedy] will honor his commitment to put the health of Americans first,” Blackburn said in a post on X. “Another great choice by President Trump.”
Other GOP senators haven’t reacted enthusiastically to the nomination, but also haven’t indicated they will try to stop it.
“The President does have the authority and the responsibility to make nominations. We do give the President the benefit of the doubt,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said on CNN.
“I don’t expect that the Senate as a whole is going to do anything except what they’ve done in the past, which is to vet each individual, to ask the hard questions and then to decide whether or not there is a reason not to support their nomination,” Rounds said.
Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) acknowledged during a Thursday evening interview on Fox News’s “Special Report with Bret Baier” that a few Republican senators might oppose some of Trump’s nominees.
“None of this is gonna be easy,” Thune said. “I always believe that you defer to a president when it comes to the people they want in their Cabinet.”
But he added that the Senate will conduct due diligence on all of Trump’s nominees. Trump has demanded the Senate let him make recess appointments to circumvent any GOP opposition to his nominees and bypass confirmation hearings. But Thune acknowledged that would be a difficult lift.