Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Thursday gained Senate affirmation by a snug 52-48 vote to be President Trump’s secretary of well being and human providers, capping a outstanding rise from fringe environmental and anti-vaccine activist to the top of energy.
The controversial anti-vaxxer swept to affirmation with the backing of all Republicans besides Sen. Mitch McConnell, an ardent proponent of vaccines who survived childhood polio. All 47 Democrats opposed his bid.
RFK Jr., who mimicked Trump’s signature MAGA slogan by vowing to Make America Wholesome Once more, will oversee companies that spend $1.7 trillion yearly on vaccines, meals security and the Medicare and Medicaid medical health insurance applications that cowl roughly half of all Individuals.
Kennedy, 71, has spent his lifetime within the highlight since his Democratic uncle and father had been felled by assassins’ bullets within the Sixties however now’s set to tackle his largest function but.
The scion of Camelot has earned a formidable following together with his populist views about how America regulates its meals, medicines and vaccines, at the same time as he has proven off a wacky facet like when he used a road-kill bear carcass to stage a faux bicycle crash in Central Park.
The viewers for his typically excessive views exploded throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, when many Individuals chafed on the authorities shutdown measures and vaccine mandates despite the fact that these measures prevented numerous deaths.
Buoyed by the anti-vaxxer motion, Kennedy ran for president himself, first mounting a short-lived Democratic main problem to former President Biden, then launching an impartial bid. He obtained on the poll in a number of states and gained sturdy assist in some early polls.
In the summertime, RFK ended his marketing campaign and endorsed Trump, successfully rebranding his struggle to win assist for Trump amongst his independent-minded and youthful base of assist. His Democratic household unanimously recoiled in disgust, with sister Kerry Kennedy branding him an “outrage” and cousin Caroline Kennedy deriding him as a “predator.”
Trump in flip embraced RFK Jr., despite the fact that the president was as soon as an enthusiastic backer of vaccines and took credit score for paving the best way to beat COVID together with his Operation Warp Velocity vaccine growth program in his first time period.
With Trump’s unquestioned backing, Kennedy says is “uniquely positioned” to revive belief in these public well being companies, which embody the Meals and Drug Administration, the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, and the Nationwide Institutes for Well being.
The environmental lawyer endured a rocky two-day affirmation listening to at which even Republicans appeared shocked that he wouldn’t class deny a hyperlink between vaccines and autism, which has been categorically debunked by science.
He additionally displayed an unsteady information of the medical health insurance applications he’ll oversee, at one level mixing up Medicare and Medicaid.
Kennedy steadfastly refused to again away from his explosive statements about vaccines, together with his declare that “no vaccine is safe and effective.”
Kennedy has additionally been accused of ethics conflicts over his anti-vaccine activism, just like the $850,000 windfall he made final yr alone for referring shoppers to a legislation agency that has sued the makers of Gardasil, which protects towards cervical most cancers. He has refused to scrap the deal despite the fact that he’ll oversee regulating the vaccine in query, as an alternative shunting the large bucks charges to his grownup son.
He was anticipated to face opposition over his assist for abortion rights, which might usually deter votes from conservatives, in addition to his harsh criticism of meals processing and Large Ag companies, each huge Republican donors, particularly to farm state lawmakers.
However amongst Republicans, the questions on RFK melted away within the face of an aggressive marketing campaign by the White Home, backed by the specter of assaults and even primaries if they didn’t fall in line.
It’s a playbook that’s gotten Trump many of the cupboard crew he needs with a minimal of fuss.
Kash Patel, as soon as identified for spouting fringe conspiracy theories about Trump’s loss within the 2020 election, was authorised by the Judiciary Committee Thursday to be director of the FBI. He’s a heavy favourite to win remaining affirmation subsequent week.
Kennedy is predicted to take over the nation’s well being companies simply as Trump and Elon Musk engineer an enormous federal authorities shakeup that goals to chop billions of taxpayer {dollars} in public well being funding, together with spending for medical analysis into therapies for ailments like most cancers and Alzheimer’s.
Kennedy is prone to enthusiastically again the cuts. He has vowed to fireside a whole bunch of workers on the NIH, the nation’s largest funder of biomedical analysis, saying he distrusts their pro-industry and Large Pharma bias.
