By Ahmed Aboulenein
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a vaccine critic who endorsed President Donald Trump after abandoning his own presidential bid, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Secretary of Health and Human Services on Thursday, overcoming resistance from the medical establishment and members of Congress.
The vote was 52-48, with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky the lone Republican joining all 47 Democrats to vote against Kennedy, who had made pledges to protect existing vaccination programs in a bid to secure votes of hesitant lawmakers.
The confirmation paves the way for him to be sworn in to the job overseeing multiple high-profile agencies, including the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Once Kennedy is sworn in later on Thursday, Trump will sign an executive order to establish a MAHA commission, named for Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement, and will direct the new HHS secretary “to investigate this chronic crisis plaguing our country,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News on Thursday.
Kennedy, 71, is an environmental lawyer who has long sown doubts about the safety and efficacy of vaccines that have helped curb disease and prevented millions of deaths for decades.
He will now run an HHS department that directs more than $3 trillion in healthcare spending. Also under HHS purview are the Medicare and Medicaid programs that provide health insurance for over 140 million Americans and the National Institutes of Health.
Kennedy has said he wants to work to end chronic disease, break any ties between employees at the U.S. drugs regulator and industry and advise U.S. water systems to remove fluoride. Opponents argued that he is unfit for the job because of his prominent role in the anti-vaccine movement.
Kennedy’s path to confirmation was fraught and did not always appear to have the necessary votes among Republicans. He had to overcome his past as a life-long Democrat, his previous views in support of abortion, as well as his stance on vaccines. Some prominent members of his own family, including cousin Caroline Kennedy, also urged his rejection.
Ultimately, Senate Republicans closed ranks as they have for every Trump cabinet selection so far.
The White House has offered buyouts to 2 million civilian full-time federal workers as part of plans to drastically shrink the size of the government. Kennedy has said he wants to get rid of many employees at both the FDA and NIH.
Following the Senate vote, Stephen Ubl, CEO of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America — the top industry lobby group — said drugmakers are eager to work with the Trump administration to address reducing the burden of chronic disease, improve health outcomes and make healthcare more affordable for Americans.
“A key part of the solution is to strengthen the ecosystem that makes our country the best place in the world to develop new medicines,” he said in a statement. “We also need to rein in abuses that drive up costs at the pharmacy.”
(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Additional reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Editing by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot)
