RFK Jr confirmed as Health and Human Services Secretary

On Thursday, the Senate voted to confirm Robert F Kennedy Jr as the next Department of Health and Human Services Secretary. His confirmation passed with a 52-48 vote. Senator Mitch McConnell voted against confirming Kennedy, and also voted against confirming Director of National Intelligence Tusli Gabbard earlier in the week.

This comes after Kennedy’s confirmation cleared its final hurdle on Wednesday before the final senate vote, with the chamber voting 53-47 in favor of invoking cloture. The Senate Finance Committee had voted to advance Kennedy's nomination earlier in February with a vote of 14 to 13.

During the confirmation hearing, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) criticized Democrat lawmakers who were drilling Kennedy on his stance on vaccines, saying, "Discussion over vaccines is so oversimplified and dumbed down that we never really get to real truths, and it's why people up here are so separated from real people at home."