Robert Kennedy Jr - Photo By Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who endorsed President Donald Trump after abandoning his presidential bid, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Secretary of Health and Human Services on Thursday, overcoming resistance from the medical establishment and members of Congress.
The vote was 52-48, with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the lone Republican, joining all 47 Democrats to vote against Kennedy. Kennedy had made pledges to protect existing vaccination programs in a bid to secure the votes of hesitant lawmakers.
The confirmation paves the way for him to be sworn in to the job overseeing multiple high-profile agencies, including the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Once Kennedy is sworn in later on Thursday, Trump will sign an executive order to establish a MAHA commission, named for Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement, and will direct the new HHS secretary “to investigate this chronic crisis plaguing our country,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News on Thursday. He will now run an HHS department that directs more than $3 trillion in healthcare spending. Also under HHS purview are the Medicare and Medicaid programs that provide health insurance for over 140 million Americans and the National Institutes of Health.
Kennedy has said he wants to work to end chronic disease, break any ties between employees at the U.S. drugs regulator and industry and advise U.S. water systems to remove fluoride. Opponents argued that he is unfit for the job because of his past comments that questioned the safety of some vaccines.
The White House has offered buyouts to 2 million civilian full-time federal workers as part of plans to drastically shrink the size of the government. Kennedy has said he wants to get rid of many employees at both the FDA and NIH.
Following the Senate vote, Stephen Ubl, CEO of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America — the top industry lobby group — said drugmakers are eager to work with the Trump administration to address reducing the burden of chronic disease, improve health outcomes and make healthcare more affordable for Americans.
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