BREAKING: Kennedy HHS Nomination Clears Key Committee Vote

Feb. 4, 2025
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s HHS nomination advanced out of the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday

The Trump White House’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to become Secretary of Health and Human Services on Feb. 4 cleared a key hurdle, passing out of the Senate Finance Committee on a party-line vote, with all 14 Republicans voting to support Kennedy’s nomination and all 13 Democrats opposing it. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) will determine the timing of the full Senate vote on the nomination, but most observers believe that the final vote will take place next week.

The New York Times’s Sheryl Gay Stolberg wrote on Tuesday morning that “The Senate Finance Committee voted on Tuesday to forward the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the full Senate, setting up a vote on whether Mr. Kennedy, one of the nation’s most vociferous critics of vaccines, should become the nation’s next health secretary. Senator Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican and a physician who has been on the fence about Mr. Kennedy, cast the deciding vote, after days of publicly agonizing over what to do. The final tally was split along party lines: 14 Republicans voted yes, and all 13 Democrats opposed him.”

Meanwhile, the Washington Post’s Dan Diamond, Lauren Weber, and Rachel Roubein wrote on Tuesday morning that “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is now one step closer to running the nation’s health agencies after a Senate panel voted narrowly Tuesday to advance the nomination of President Donald Trump’s controversial pick to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. The longtime anti-vaccine activist — who has been widely opposed by public health experts and Democrats — could soon be confirmed for a sweeping post to oversee Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act; coordinating the public health response to epidemics; and the process of approving pharmaceutical drugs, vaccines and other medical supplies. Kennedy and his supporters insist he would bring an overdue focus to problems such as chronic disease.”

And they noted that “Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), a physician who had been openly wrestling with whether to support one of the nation’s most prominent vaccine skeptics, opted to vote for Kennedy in a decision that could foreshadow the upcoming vote in front of the Senate. Kennedy denied that he was anti-vaccine in his two confirmation hearings last week, insisting he simply seeks more data about vaccines’ risks — something he has said for years when pressed on his debunked claims, lawmakers pointed out.”

Per Sen. Cassidy’s apparent change of heart, USA Today’s Joey Garrison and Savannah Kuchar reported on Wednesday morning that “Cassidy, who is up for reelection in 2026, announced his support shortly before the vote in a post on X, saying he had ‘very intense conversations’ with Kennedy and the White House over the weekend. ‘With the serious commitments I’ve received from the administration and the opportunity to make progress on the issues we agree on like healthy foods and a pro-American agenda, I will vote yes,’” they quoted him as saying.

POLITICO’s Daniel Payne and Chelsea Cirruzzo on Tuesday morning quoted Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) as saying that “It is time to put someone in there who’s going to go wild,” after voting to advance Kennedy’s confirmation, referencing President Donald Trump’s promise to Kennedy after Kennedy dropped his presidential bid last summer and endorsed Trump. As the POLITICO reporters wrote, “Tillis said he meant that he hoped bringing in ‘a disruptor’ like Kennedy, a lawyer and not a health professional, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, would bring new ideas to reduce the cost of health care and drug prices, bolster food safety and improve the government’s health insurance program for low-income people, Medicaid.”

This is a developing story. Healthcare Innovation will update readers as new developments emerge.

 

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