RFK Jr. appears on the right track to become American health secretary

By Amanda Seitz and Stephen Groves, Associated Press

Washington (AP) – Robert F. Kennedy Jr.A skeptical and vocal activist lawyer appeared on the right track to become the country secretary of the country after winning the crucial support of the Republican senator Bill Cassidy, a doctor who says that Kennedy assured him that he would not return to Route The country’s childhood vaccination program.

In a very partisan vote, the finance committee of the Senate subcontrolled by the Republican advanced the appointment of Kennedy 14-13, sending its candidacy to supervise the American health and social services agency of 1.7 Billion of dollars For a full vote on the Senate.

All the Democrats of the Committee opposed Kennedy, whose surname was synonymous with their party for generations before aligning with President Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign. They seemed an alarm on the work of Kennedy to sow doubt Vaccine safety And its potential to take advantage of the proceedings against drug manufacturers.

A full vote of the Senate has not yet been planned, but with Cassidy’s vote which no longer doubts the appointment of Kennedy is likely to succeed in the absence of last minute vote. Kennedy was among the most controversial choices of Trump’s office, and the Republicans who merged around him showed another powerful allegiance measure close to the president’s deposit.

Cassidy had publicly detailed his personal struggle, as a doctor who saw the rescue capacity of vaccines, with Kennedy confirmation. “Your past, undergoing confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments, concerns me,” Cassidy told Kennedy last week.

However, with regard to his vote on Tuesday, he advanced Kennedy with a simple “Aye”.

Cassidy, who is re-elect next year and could face a main challenge, later described “intense conversations” with Kennedy and Vice-President JD Vance which started this weekend and Pursued Tuesday morning, just before the vote. These conversations have given “serious commitments” of the administration, said Cassidy. His re-election campaign had “absolutely zero to do with the decision,” he told journalists.

Cassidy declared in a speech later in the Senate that, in exchange for his support, Kennedy had promised not to modify the existing vaccination recommendations which were made by a federal advisory committee and agreed not to rub the centers for disease Control and the prevention of declarations that clarify vaccines do not cause autism. In addition, Cassidy said Kennedy would consult him on the new hires for the agency and will appear if she is quarterly in front of the Senate health committee, which Cassidy chairs. A 30 -day notice will be sent to the Si Kennedy committee seeks to modify federal vaccine safety monitoring programs.

“He will be the secretary,” said Cassidy. “But I think he will also be a partner to work for this purpose.”

Cassidy said that the formidable from Kennedy after led a maximum pressure campaign, bombing his office with thousands of messages per day. Pediatricians have also held their hand, expressing fears of disease epidemics and deaths among children if a man who has a history of de-disguation is installed as the country secretary of the country, he said.

The Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, another vulnerable vote that Kennedy worked to win, said that he was reassured last week by the promise of the nominee of the Secretary of Health to leave the scientists of the health agencies Public, in particular Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes Institutes for Health, work “independently”.

“The only way Bobby Kennedy will get crossed is if he takes a position against the safety of proven vaccines,” said Tillis. “It will be a problem for me.”

The Republican Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky were also considered potentially unmarked votes, because they voted against the candidate of the Secretary of Defense of Trump and expressed concerns concerning Kennedy’s anti-vaccine work. Kennedy could lose the support of these three senators and still become secretary to health.

Democrats, on the other hand, continued to revive alarms concerning Kennedy’s potential to benefit financially from the evolution of vaccine guidelines or to weaken federal protections of prosecution against vaccines.

“It seems possible that many different types of decisions and communications related to the vaccine – that you would be empowered to take and influence as secretary – could lead to significant financial remuneration from your family,” said Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts and Ron Wyden from Oregon wrote in a letter sent this weekend to Kennedy.

Kennedy said he will give his son all reference costs in legal affairs Against vaccines, including the costs he obtains by referring to customers in a case against Merck. Kennedy told the committee that he had referred hundreds of customers to a law firm who pursues Gardasil de Mckk, the human vaccine of papillomavirus which prevents cervical cancer. He has won $ 2.5 million from the agreement in the past three years.

As secretary, Kennedy is responsible for food and hospital inspections, providing health insurance to millions of Americans and research on fatal diseases.

Originally published: February 4, 2025 at 8:00 am PST