BREAKING: RFK Jr. has just been APPROVED by the Senate Finance Committee as the next Secretary of Health and Human Services, advancing his nomination to a full Senate vote.
Senator Bill Cassidy (R – Louisiana) was the key flip that helped Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination for… pic.twitter.com/eAyypn7yvL
— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) February 4, 2025
I’ve had very intense conversations with Bobby and the White House over the weekend and even this morning. I want to thank VP JD specifically for his honest counsel. With the serious commitments I’ve received from the administration and the opportunity to make progress on the…
— U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (@SenBillCassidy) February 4, 2025
It was unorthodox to do the Senate hearings and then not make a decision on RFK’s nomination.
But it is looking like he might be able to pull it off.
He should have just answered every question with “I believe Israel has a right to defend itself.”
AP:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vocal vaccine skeptic and activist lawyer, appeared on track to become the nation’s health secretary after winning the crucial support of Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a doctor who says Kennedy has assured him he would not topple the nation’s childhood vaccination program.
In a starkly partisan vote, the Republican-controlled Senate Finance Committee advanced Kennedy’s nomination 14-13, sending his bid to oversee the $1.7 trillion U.S. Health and Human Services agency for a full vote on the Senate floor.
All Democrats on the committee opposed Kennedy, whose family name had been synonymous with their party for generations before he aligned with President Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign. They sounded an alarm on Kennedy’s work to sow doubt around vaccine safety and his potential to profit off lawsuits over drugmakers.
Remember that the Democrats let Marco Rubio sail through like a cool breeze on a summer afternoon.
The vote was 99-0. Every Democrat voted for him.
Kennedy can’t get one.
A full Senate vote has not yet been scheduled, but with Cassidy’s vote no longer in doubt Kennedy’s nomination is likely to succeed absent any last-minute vote switches. Kennedy has been among the more contentious of Trump’s Cabinet choices, and Republicans coalescing around him showed another powerful measure of near lockstep allegiance to the president.
Cassidy said in a speech later on the Senate floor that, in exchange for his support, Kennedy has promised not to make changes to existing vaccine recommendations that have been made by a federal advisory committee and has agreed not to scrub the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of statements that clarify vaccines do not cause autism. In addition, Cassidy said Kennedy will consult with him on new hires for the agency and appear if asked quarterly before the Senate’s health committee, which Cassidy chairs. A 30-day notice will be sent to the committee if Kennedy seeks to make changes federal vaccine safety monitoring programs.
“He will be the secretary,” Cassidy said. “But I believe he will also be a partner in working for this end.”
Elizabeth Warren, an apache chieftain, claims to be a communist, and she was one of the most vicious defenders of the pharma industry at these hearings.
You can’t make this up.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is throwing a tantrum over RFK Jr. passing the initial Senate Finance Committee vote, arguing that allowing vaccine manufacturers to be sued is dangerous.
“Vaccine manufacturers often operate on very slim profit margins.
If they… pic.twitter.com/1drOa3bRPM
— End Tribalism in Politics (@EndTribalism) February 4, 2025
The entire US government is completely controlled by private interests. It is the most corrupt government ever in human history.
The only reason Republicans will vote for Trump’s picks is that he threatens them. He also vows to help them with their own agendas in support of private interests.
Plus they’re all afraid of looking pro-vax after that whole coronavirus debacle everyone hated.