WASHINGTON — Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cleared the final hurdle before his expected Senate confirmation in a party-line vote Wednesday after quelling Republican concerns about his longstanding opposition to vaccines and his promulgation of conspiracy theories.
The Senate voted 53-47 to end debate on Kennedy’s nomination, following public statements of support from some GOP senators who had been on the fence about President Trump’s pick.
Republican aides and sources close to the confirmation fight have indicated confidence Kennedy will receive final approval Thursday evening, though the sources have also labeled the 71-year-old a “slight wild card.”
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) revealed Tuesday that she was ready to back RFK Jr. “after extensive public and private questioning and a thorough examination of his nomination” — despite being one of three Republicans who tried to tank Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s confirmation.
“He told me he believed in the efficacy of the polio vaccine and said he would help restore Americans’ confidence in vaccines and our health agencies,” Collins said in a statement, referring to the longtime environmental lawyer’s repeated claims about autism being linked to immunizations.
Collins also said she was “encouraged” that Kennedy would be meeting regularly with Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a physician who was on the fence for weeks about the vaccine skeptic before declaring his support.
“Based on Mr. Kennedy’s assurances about vaccines and his platform to positively influence Americans’ health, it is my consideration that he will get this done,” Cassidy said in a floor speech last week. “I want Mr. Kennedy to succeed in making America healthy again.”
The Louisiana and Maine GOP senators are both up for re-election in 2026, which complicated the decision.
Another early opponent, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), had warned Kennedy to “steer clear of even the appearance of association” with his past efforts agitating against polio vaccinations in particular.
The former Senate majority leader was diagnosed with polio as a child, which left his upper left leg paralyzed, but voted Wednesday to advance Kennedy’s nomination — while opposing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation earlier in the day.
Collins, McConnell and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) had all voted against Hegseth’s confirmation — but Murkowski joined her Maine colleague in backing Kennedy after the cloture vote Wednesday.
“Instead of focusing on who covers our exorbitant healthcare costs, we need to reduce these costs by directing our attention to prevention and keeping people healthy,” Murkowski said in a statement. “This is the appeal of RFK, and many Alaskans have shared that view with me.”
“I continue to have concerns about Mr. Kennedy’s views on vaccines and his selective interpretation of scientific studies, which initially caused my misgivings about his nomination,” she went on. “Vaccines have saved millions of lives, and I sought assurance that, as HHS Secretary, he would do nothing to make it difficult for people to take vaccines or discourage vaccination efforts.”
“He has made numerous commitments to me and my colleagues, promising to work with Congress to ensure public access to information and to base vaccine recommendations on data-driven, evidence-based, and medically sound research,” she added. “These commitments are important to me and, on balance, provide assurance for my vote.”
In his confirmation hearings, Kennedy said repeatedly that he was “pro-vaccine” as Democrats unearthed statements from the nom over the years casting doubt on the efficacy of polio, hepatitis B and measles vaccines.
Before the Senate HELP and Finance Committees, senators also drilled down on his statements about Lyme disease being a possible “bioweapon,” COVID-19 being caused by an “ethnically targeted” virus against black and Caucasian people, and his flirtation last year with Sept. 11, 2001, “conspiracy theories.”
Kennedy waved away many of the remarks by claiming they were taken out of context or did not represent his current views on public health — while mixing up Medicare and Medicaid at times when pressed on finer policy points.
“Mr. Kennedy, you have spent years pushing conflicting stories about vaccines,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, during the first confirmation hearing.
“You say one thing and then you say another. In your testimony today, under oath, you denied that you were anti-vaccine. But during a podcast interview in July of 2023, you said, quote, ‘No vaccine is safe and effective.’”
“So are you lying to Congress today when you say you are pro-vaccine? Or did you lie on all those podcasts?” Wyden asked.
“I said, ‘There are no vaccines that are safe and effective,’” Kennedy replied. “And I was going to continue for every person, every medicine has people who are sensitive to them, including vaccines. He interrupted me at that point.”
In spite of his professed support for the “Make America Healthy Again” mantra, socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) voted against the nominee in committee and on the floor.
Senate Finance Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) had backed the Kennedy scion throughout the process, urging colleagues to confirm the son of Democratic royalty based on “his passion for addressing America’s chronic disease epidemic.”
“Mr. Kennedy’s decades of experience and deep drive to advocate on behalf of consumers will set a patient-centered tone at the department,” Crapo said in a floor speech Wednesday.
“As he has demonstrated in both public and private settings, Mr. Kennedy is committed to reorienting our approach to health care and restoring faith in our institutions,” he added, claiming the approach “will save lives, reduce costs and establish a foundation for a healthier, stronger country.”
The Ohio senator also said Kennedy’s “dedication to transparency” will “empower patients” and form “a responsive rapport with Congress,” after years of US public health officials not being forthcoming with Republican-led investigations, especially on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
If confirmed this week, Kennedy will oversee the massive HHS bureaucracy, with approximately 90,000 people and an annual budget of roughly $1.7 trillion.
