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Mr. Kennedy appears to have most Republicans behind him as he seeks the job of health secretary, though he couldn’t escape his past stances on vaccines and abortion.
- Jan. 29, 2025Updated 7:47 p.m. ET
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s nominee for health secretary, appeared to dispel some Republicans’ qualms about him on Wednesday and inched closer to a confirmation vote after more than three hours of intense grilling from senators of both parties.
His hearing before the Senate Finance Committee touched on a wide range of topics, from Medicaid and Medicare, to a measles outbreak in Samoa and his long history of criticizing vaccines and the nation’s public health establishment.
Mr. Kennedy is well known to Americans as the scion of a Democratic political dynasty who broke with his family to join forces with a Republican, Mr. Trump. Yet for many Americans, Wednesday may have been the first time they had heard Mr. Kennedy’s distinctive raspy voice; he has spasmodic dysphonia, a neurological condition that causes certain muscles in the voice box, or larynx, to spasm.
Mr. Kennedy will face additional questions on Thursday from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. But the Finance Committee hearing is more important, because the Finance Committee is the panel that will vote on whether to send Mr. Kennedy’s nomination to the Senate floor for a vote.
Here are five takeaways from Wednesday’s session.
Mr. Kennedy appears to have won over most Republicans.
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Perhaps all but one. Republicans seemed by and large to support Mr. Kennedy. At least two whose votes were in doubt — Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Senator Todd Young of Indiana — asked questions that suggested they would support Mr. Kennedy.
