RFK Jr. Faces Key Senate Hurdle in His Bid for Top Health Post, With Cassidy’s Vote Uncertain

WASHINGTON — The environmental lawyer turned public health critic, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is set to find out on Tuesday if he has cleared the first hurdle to become the nation’s top health official when the Senate Finance Committee votes on his nomination.Democrats are raising concerns about Kennedy’s potential to profit from anti-vaccine advocacy and lawsuits, but Republicans appear to be rallying behind President Trump’s health secretary nominee. On Monday, Senator Tillis, a North Carolina Republican once viewed as a possible “no” vote, announced he would back Mr. Kennedy.Mr. Kennedy needs support from all but three Republicans if Democrats uniformly oppose him.What Will Senator Cassidy, a Doctor and a Republican, Do?One key vote remains in question: Senator Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, and physician, who sits on the finance committee that will vote on Mr. Kennedy’s confirmation. Last week, during Mr. Kennedy’s hearings, Dr. Cassidy repeatedly implored Mr. Kennedy to reject a disproven theory that vaccines cause autism, to no avail. He ended the hearing by saying he was “struggling” with the vote.“Your past, undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments, concerns me,” Dr. Cassidy told Mr. Kennedy.On Monday evening, Dr. Cassidy told reporters that he had “very cordial” conversations with Mr. Kennedy over the weekend but was “still working through” how to handle his vote.Senators Collins of Maine, Murkowski of Alaska, and McConnell of Kentucky are all seen as potential Republican “no” votes, too, because they voted against Mr. Trump’s defense secretary nominee and have expressed concerns about Mr. Kennedy’s anti-vaccine work.In a CBS “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday, Mr. McConnell declined to say how he would vote on Mr. Kennedy’s nomination but reiterated “vaccines are critically important.”

RFK Jr. Faces Key Senate Hurdle in His Bid for Top Health Post, With Cassidy’s Vote Uncertain

RFK Jr. Faces Key Senate Hurdle in His Bid for Top Health Post, With Cassidy’s Vote Uncertain

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