Health secretary nominee RFK Jr. advances in first vote | WORLD
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Health secretary nominee RFK Jr. advances in first vote


Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Associated Press / Photo by Jose Luis Magana, file

Health secretary nominee RFK Jr. advances in first vote

In a 14-13 vote, the Senate Finance Committee moved Robert F. Kennedy Jr. toward becoming the director of the Health and Human Services Department. It was a party-line vote, with every Democrat voting against him. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., voiced concerns during a hearing last week about Kennedy’s opposition to vaccines—including past claims the nominee made linking vaccines to autism. But Cassidy voted in favor of Kennedy on Tuesday.

In a final pitch to senators, President Donald Trump wrote on his social media platform Tuesday morning that Kennedy could reverse rising rates of autism. A spike in diagnoses over the past 20 years points to a health crisis in the country, Trump claimed.

What happens next? Senate Majority Leader John Thune may now bring RFK Jr.’s nomination to a floor vote. Thune is expected to invoke cloture this week, which would trigger a 30-hour countdown until a full floor vote. Kennedy needs a simple majority for the confirmation. While most of Trump’s cabinet nominees have received bipartisan votes from the floor, three Republicans voted against the approval of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, which caused a 50-50 chamber split. Vice President J.D. Vance cast the tie-breaking vote to confirm Hegseth.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Stew about Kennedy’s contentious confirmation hearing before the Senate committee last week.


Carolina Lumetta

Carolina is a WORLD reporter and a graduate of the World Journalism Institute and Wheaton College. She resides in Washington, D.C.

@CarolinaLumetta


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