RFK Jr. confirmed as new health secretary

The Senate on Thursday voted 52-48 to confirm President Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of health, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., sided with all Democrats in opposing Kennedy’s confirmation. Yesterday, McConnell also opposed Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation. And last month, McConnell opposed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s confirmation.

What has Kennedy promised to do as health secretary? Kennedy promised the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee that he would do everything he could to improve the health of Americans. Roughly 70% of Americans are overweight or obese and roughly 90% of U.S. spending on healthcare goes toward managing chronic diseases, Kennedy said. He hoped to bring healthcare industry experts together to figure out how to make Americans healthier, he said.

During the 2024 election, Kennedy initially ran against Trump as an independent before eventually throwing his support behind the president. During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee last month, both Democrats and Republicans expressed uncertainty about some of Kennedy’s positions on vaccines and abortion, as well as his lack of specifics in answers to some policy questions.