Senators vote on party lines to advance RFK Jr. nomination for HHS secretary
Key takeaways:
- The Finance Committee voted Tuesday to send Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s nomination to the Senate for a vote.
- As HHS secretary, Kennedy would have broad powers to oversee health care in the U.S.
Senators voted on party lines Tuesday to advance the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the next U.S. health secretary.
The vote by the Senate Finance committee was 14-13 in favor of sending the nomination to the full Senate for consideration. All 14 Republicans on the committee voted in favor of the nomination; all 13 Democrats opposed it.
Swing vote
The 14 “yea” votes included Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, MD, a physician who was seen as a potential swing vote against Kennedy’s nomination.
In addition to being a member of the Finance Committee, Cassidy chairs the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP). Kennedy appeared before both committees last week and faced tough questioning from Cassidy about Medicare, Medicaid and Kennedy’s history of pushing anti-science claims about the safety of vaccines.
Cassidy, who has publicly criticized Kennedy’s anti-vaccine stances, announced on X that he was voting yes after having “very intense conversations with [Kennedy] and the White House over the weekend and even this morning” and receiving “serious commitments ... from the administration and the opportunity to make progress on the issues we agree on like healthy foods and a pro-American agenda.”
After casting his “yea” vote in committee, Cassidy, who co-founded a free health care clinic in Louisiana for working uninsured patients and started a free hepatitis B vaccination program for Louisiana children, explained his decision on the Senate floor, saying he assessed the decision “as I would assess a patient.”
Cassidy said he received assurances from Kennedy and the Trump administration that they would protect vaccines, and that Cassidy would have “an unprecedentedly close collaborative working relationship” with Kennedy if he is confirmed, including input on hiring decisions within HHS that are not Senate confirmable.
“These commitments and my expectation that we can have a great working relationship to make America healthy again is the basis of my support,” Cassidy said.
According to Cassidy, Kennedy pledged to “work within current vaccine approval and safety monitoring systems and not establish parallel systems” and to maintain vaccine recommendations made by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices “without changes.”
Cassidy said he received assurances that the CDC would not remove statements on its website noting that vaccines do not cause autism. Kennedy has long supported scientifically disproven claims saying just that. (The Trump administration has come under fire for removing health resources from government websites, including CDC.gov, that make reference to “gender ideology.”)
“Regarding vaccines, Mr. Kennedy has been insistent that he just wants good science and to ensure safety, but on this topic, the science is good. The science is credible. Vaccines save lives. They are safe. They do not cause autism,” Cassidy said.
Cassidy said he also received assurances that, if confirmed, Kennedy will not change policies enacted by Congress without going through Congress. He said Kennedy has committed to appear before the HELP committee quarterly if asked, that as chair of HELP he would get to choose a member on any commission formed to review the safety of vaccines, and that HHS would provide 30-day notice to HELP if it planned to make changes to vaccine safety monitoring programs, giving HELP an option to review the changes.
“If Mr. Kennedy is confirmed, I will use my authority as chairman of the Senate committee with oversight of HHS to rebuff any attempt to remove the public’s access to lifesaving vaccines without iron-clad causational scientific evidence that can be accepted and defended before the mainstream scientific community and before Congress,” Cassidy said.
“I will watch carefully for any effort to wrongfully sow public fear about vaccines [with] confusing references of coincidence and anecdote,” he said. “My support is built on assurances that this will not be a concern and that he and I will work together to build an agenda that will make America healthier again.”
Key moments
- Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren and Democratic ranking member Ron Wyden said Monday that Kennedy had agreed to amend his ethics agreement to state that he would no longer retain financial interest in vaccine litigation undertaken by a law firm to which he has referred cases, but would instead “pass his personal stake” in those lawsuits to his son. After voting no on Kennedy’s nomination Tuesday, Warren called Kennedy’s announcement “a fig leaf that is so small it would take a magnifying glass to see it. No one is fooled about what’s happening here. Mr. Kennedy refuses to say that he will not participate in these lawsuits financially the day after he leaves office.”
- Kennedy has garnered some bipartisan support for his stated plans to reduce chronic diseases and reform the food industry to make it healthier. On Tuesday, North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis noted some concern among conservatives about Kennedy’s pro-choice stance on abortion, his views on gun control and that his ideas to reform the food industry could hurt the agriculture industry, but Tillis said he could not find “a single organization that I consider to be credible” in agriculture, second amendment rights or pro-life “who have openly objected to this vote.” He said their “silence is consent” that they believe Kennedy’s nomination should pass.
- Tillis said it was “time to put a disruptor” at the top of HHS but also cautioned Kennedy against meddling with “gold standard” health agencies like the CDC, NIH and Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, noting that Kennedy swore under oath he would let those agencies work independently. “The only way Bobby Kennedy and I will be [at odds] is if he does actually take a position against the safety of proven vaccines,” Tillis said. “That would be a problem for me.”
For more coverage of the debate over Kennedy’s nomination, read our story about last week’s Finance Committee meeting. You can also click here to read more about President Trump’s health nominees and the impact they could have on Americans’ health.
[Editor’s note: Clinicians are discussing how the change in leadership in Washington will affect them and their patients. Join the conversation on Healio Community .]
What’s next
Kennedy needs only a simple majority to be confirmed as HHS secretary by the full Senate. Republicans have a 53-47 majority.
In the event of a 50-50 tie in the Senate, Vance would cast the deciding vote, as he did to confirm Pete Hegseth as defense secretary.
Reference:
- C-SPAN. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) explains decision to support HHS nominee RFK. Jr. https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5152280/senator-bill-cassidy-explains-decision-support-hhs-nominee-rfk-jr. Published Feb. 4, 2025. Accessed Feb. 4, 2025.
- Warren, Wyden press RFK Jr. to resolve conflicts of interest ahead of committee vote. https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-wyden-press-rfk-jr-to-resolve-conflicts-of-interest-ahead-of-committee-vote. Published Feb. 3, 2025. Accessed Feb. 4, 2025.