Members of the Senate today voted 52-48 to approve the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
HHS is the department in charge of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that runs Medicare.
All Democrats in the Senate voted against confirmation, and most Republicans voted for confirmation.
The only senator to cross party lines was Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. McConnell — a former Senate majority leader and polio survivor — said he voted against confirmation because of Kennedy's past opposition to vaccination programs.
Three Republican senators who had expressed concerns about Kennedy's views on vaccines — Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — have said that Kennedy told them he would maintain current U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention immunization practices recommendations.
As HHS secretary, Kennedy could weigh in on matters such as Medicare Advantage program benefits standards, funding formulas and marketing rules.
Members of the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee did not ask Kennedy about those topics during their hearings on his Kennedy nomination.
Kennedy is the son of the late Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy.
He is a lawyer who worked early in his career for environmental protection organizations. He began working with Children's Health Defense, a group that opposes standard children's vaccination recommendations and contends that preservatives in vaccines cause autism, in 2015. He has also questioned the standard COVID-19 vaccination and response efforts.
Trump has nominated Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon and former television show host, to be the CMS administrator.
Confirmation hearing dates for Oz have not yet been announced.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Credit: Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee
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