Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as the new head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, launching a new era in U.S. health policy after the one-time presidential hopeful openly questioned the safety of
Kennedy was approved largely along party lines, 52-48, after tense confirmation hearings in which he was questioned over the possibility he could dismantle America's vaccine infrastructure and his flip on
Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the former Senate majority leader, was the only Republican to vote against Kennedy, who has been a vaccine critic.
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"I'm a survivor of childhood polio," McConnell said in a statement. "In my lifetime, I've watched vaccines save millions of lives from devastating diseases across America and around the world. I will not condone the re-litigation of proven cures, and neither will millions of Americans who credit their survival and quality of life to scientific miracles."
Kennedy, who first ran as a Democrat before switching to a third party and eventually suspending his campaign to back Trump, will now have influence over the Food and Drug Administration, which decides whether to approve
HHS also has a widespread reach into the daily lives and health of Americans through its control over federal insurance programs for elderly and lower-income citizens.
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Republican Bill Cassidy, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, initially wavered on moving Kennedy's nomination to a full vote and then relented.
Cassidy, who is a doctor, said Kennedy promised to involve the senator in hiring decisions at HHS and that the agency would give Congress a 30-day notice if HHS tries to reform public vaccine guidance. Plus, Kennedy promised he will not change the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, an independent body that sets vaccine schedules and recommendations.
Kennedy sat for two confirmation hearings, both interrupted by protesters.
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Kennedy rebranded his campaign website as Make America Healthy Again after he dropped out of the presidential race, a play on Trump's Make America Great Again campaign slogan. He drew support from vaccine skeptics, critics of additives in the US food supply and so-called "MAHA moms" — many of whom attended the hearings.
"Trump asked me to end the chronic disease epidemic and make America healthy again," Kennedy said to applause from his supporters in the Senate hearing room. "I am in a unique position to do that."
