President Donald Trump’s nominee to head Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., just got some fantastic news about his prospects for confirmation.
Rhode Island Democrat Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse may break with his party to vote for Kennedy, who is a longtime friend, WPRI reported, because of their long relationship and friendship dating back to when they were roommates in law school.
In 1998, The Providence Journal chronicled the friendship between the two men: “On many mornings, the two young men, scions of wealthy families with histories of public service, hiked and hunted in the woods around Charlottesville, Va. Kennedy half-kiddingly says he failed his first bar exam because Whitehouse persuaded him to take a four-day whitewater rafting trip in West Virginia when he should have been studying.”
That said, Whitehouse told Politico last week when asked about RFK Jr.’s confirmation: “I’m not going to reveal how I’m voting [on] any nominee.”
Also, last month, he told Slate, “There’s a bunch of stuff that I want from HHS. So I’m going to hold my fire on that.”
The dates are set for Kennedy’s hearings before the two committees he needs to get approval from before being voted on by the entire Senate, Fox News reported.
“The Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary nominee will participate in hearings with two committees, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) and the Senate Committee on Finance. The first hearing will occur next week, on Wednesday, in front of the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees HHS. The Senate’s chief committee covering issues tied to health and healthcare, the HELP committee, will probe Kennedy the following day, on Thursday,” the outlet reported.
The Senate Finance Committee will be the committee that decides if his nomination advances, however.
Even though Kennedy potentially gained the support of at least one Democrat senator, he faced opposition from some Republicans.
Republican Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy spoke to “Fox News Sunday” earlier this month and said he had concerns about what Kennedy has said in the past regarding vaccines. But a spokesperson would not give any indication as to how the senator will vote.
“Cassidy does not discuss his votes prior to meetings with the nominees and the Senate process playing itself out,” a Cassidy spokesman told Fox. “Cassidy explained these are topics he wants to discuss with RFK Jr in his meeting with him this week, and he looks forward to having a good dialogue with him.”
“He’s made some statements about pigs and about GMO corn and soybeans. I can’t believe that he’s going to have a problem with that. But if he does, he has a problem with me,” Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley added, per Fox.
Meanwhile, an organization founded by former Vice President Mike Pence has launched a pressure campaign to convince GOP senators to reject RFK Jr.’s nomination.
Pence — who served as Trump’s vice president in his first term — is opposed to RFK Jr. due to his previous support for abortion.
“Whatever the merits of RFK Jr’s Make America Healthy Again initiative—indeed, whatever other qualities a nominee might possess—an HHS Secretary must have a firm commitment to protect unborn children, or else bend under the pressure and pushback surrounding these daily, critical decisions,” Advancing American Freedom President Tim Chapman and Board Chairman Marc Short, Pence’s former chief of staff, wrote in a letter to senators.
“While RFK Jr. has made certain overtures to pro-life leaders that he would be mindful of their concerns at HHS, there is little reason for confidence at this time,” they wrote.
This marks the second formal effort by Pence and his organization to block Kennedy’s confirmation. Shortly after Trump announced Kennedy’s nomination, Pence issued a statement urging senators to reject him due to his past support for abortion, The Hill reported.
Kennedy, who initially launched a 2024 presidential campaign as a Democrat, had endorsed a ban on abortion after the first trimester but soon backtracked. He also expressed opposition to banning abortion before fetal viability, generally around 24 weeks of pregnancy.
