{"id":2401848,"date":"2025-02-12T13:02:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T18:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rfk-jr-on-glidepath-to-confirmation-after-clearing-first-vote-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-02-12T13:04:36","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T18:04:36","slug":"rfk-jr-on-glidepath-to-confirmation-after-clearing-first-vote-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rfk-jr-on-glidepath-to-confirmation-after-clearing-first-vote-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"RFK Jr. on glidepath to confirmation after clearing first vote &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frfk-jr-on-glidepath-to-confirmation-after-clearing-first-vote-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2401848&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>the article reports on Robert F. Kennedy\u2064 Jr.&#8217;s recent advancement toward confirmation as \u2064the Secretary of Health and Human Services \u2062under President Donald Trump, following a Senate vote that ended\u200c debate on his nomination with a party-line result of 53-47. Kennedy, who\u200c faced skepticism from some Republicans due to\u2063 his history of\u2064 vaccine skepticism, managed to win support \u2063by <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">promising greater\u2062 congressional\u200d oversight<\/a> and acknowledging the erosion of public trust in\u2064 health authorities. \u200dSenate Majority Leader John Thune \u2062highlighted this issue as a important concern. \u2062 <\/p>\n<p>Kennedy&#8217;s \u200bnomination was \u2062opposed unanimously by Democrats, who criticized his association with the modern antivaccine movement. However,\u2064 he has gained favor within the GOP, particularly after dropping \u200bhis 2024 presidential bid to \u200dendorse Trump, \u2064and has embraced the &#8220;Make America Healthy\u200b Again&#8221; slogan.\u200d Despite initial\u2063 doubts \u200bfrom\u2062 some senators, increased dialog and\u200c assurances from Kennedy regarding health policy \u2063have played a crucial role in\u2063 swaying opinions.<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy&#8217;s confirmation is expected to proceed on schedule, despite last-minute complications related to funding \u2062cuts proposed by the Trump governance\u200b to the National Institutes of Health. \u2063The \u200darticle also \u200cnotes\u2062 that \u200cseveral Republican senators who had reservations about Kennedy eventually voted to advance\u2062 his nomination, indicating\u2062 a potential shift \u200cin support among GOP members.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">RFK Jr. on glidepath to become HHS secretary after clearing first Senate vote<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1960444\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>The Senate voted Wednesday to advance <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/rfk-jr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\">Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/a> to be President Donald Trump&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/health-and-human-services\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"health and human services secretary\">health and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cdc-to-release-revised-guidance-reducing-covid-19-quarantine-time-from-14-days-to-7-10\/\" title=\"CDC to release revised guidance reducing COVID-19 quarantine time from 14 days to 7-10\">human services secretary<\/a><\/a>, teeing him up for confirmation Thursday morning.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The GOP-controlled chamber voted along party lines, 53-47, on a procedural move to end debate.<\/p>\n<p>Once on shaky ground with several Republicans over his history of vaccine skepticism and promoting public health conspiracies, Kennedy in recent weeks steadily won over holdouts by pledging increased congressional oversight.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Many Americans&rsquo; trust in health authorities has eroded in recent years, with the pandemic being a big factor,&rdquo; Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said. &ldquo;A lot of Americans grew frustrated with confusing and sometimes contradictory guidance from government agencies.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Democrats voted in unison against Kennedy, a legacy Democrat and nephew of President John F. Kennedy. He <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/liberal-activists-rebrand-sex-changes-as-gender-affirming-medical-care-to-bully-state-officials-into-allowing-the-mutilation-of-children\/\" title=\"Liberal Activists Rebrand Sex Changes As \u2018Gende...Affirming Medical Care\u2019 To Bully State Officials Into Allowing The Mutilation Of Children\">gained national prominence<\/a> in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/faucis-media-farewell-tour-has-begun\/\" title=\"Fauci\u2019s Media Farewell Tour Has Begun\">public health arena<\/a> as vaccine hesitancy increased due to COVID-19 vaccine mandates.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;He is the face of the modern antivaccine movement,&rdquo; Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said. &ldquo;Will Republicans do the right thing for the American public health, or will they do whatever is necessary to keep Donald Trump happy, no matter how misguided?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy dropped his ill-fated 2024 presidential run to endorse Trump at a critical moment last year and has since been embraced by the MAGA base with a promise to &ldquo;Make America Healthy Again.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy is expected to be confirmed around 7 a.m. Thursday, a timeline that was not pushed back as part of a timing agreement after a vote scheduled for earlier Wednesday was delayed due to a Washington-area snowstorm. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President Donald Trump&rsquo;s nominee to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies during a Senate Finance Committee hearing for his pending confirmation on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Washington. (Graeme Jennings\/Washington Examiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), a former physician who clashed with Kennedy during confirmation hearings over his vaccine skepticism, came around in support of the nominee after &ldquo;very intense conversations&rdquo; with Kennedy and Vice President JD Vance. Cassidy faced&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3307494\/conservatives-watch-bill-cassidy-vote-rfk-jr-confirmation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">immense political pressure<\/a>&nbsp;from fellow Republicans as he prepares for a 2026 reelection against a conservative primary challenger, a campaign that would have been further jeopardized by opposing Kennedy. <\/p>\n<p>Kennedy pledged to give Cassidy, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, input on HHS hiring decisions, increased oversight, and regular meetings. Kennedy also vowed to preserve recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention&rsquo;s Advisory Committee on vaccines and CDC language on its site to the effect that vaccines do not cause autism.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) voted to advance Kennedy but told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> he remained undecided on final confirmation for unspecified reasons. He indicated he was leaning toward a &ldquo;yes&rdquo; vote, citing Cassidy&rsquo;s position and experience as a physician. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s fair to say that was pretty influential,&rdquo; Curtis said of Cassidy.<\/p>\n<p>Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)<strong> <\/strong>and Susan Collins (R-ME), who opposed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, expressed initial concern about Kennedy but ultimately voted to advance his nomination. Collins planned to support his confirmation, but Murkowski&rsquo;s position was unclear. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kennedy faced a last-minute wrinkle in his confirmation battle after the Trump administration slashed $4 billion from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/education\/3315043\/nih-cutting-overhead-funding-for-research-at-universities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Institutes of Health<\/a>&nbsp;medical research grants and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3316253\/trump-gop-senators-heartburn-nih-spending-cuts\/\">sparked backlash from GOP senators<\/a> whose home state universities and hospitals stand to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-gives-gop-senators-heartburn-with-nih-spending-cuts-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Trump gives ... ... heartburn with NIH spending cuts- ... Examiner\">lose substantial federal aid<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The NIH is housed under HHS, prompting Kennedy to offer senators commitments that he will reevaluate the push to reduce the funding. The administration defended the cuts as eliminating wasteful administrative costs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1960444\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1960444\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RFK Jr. moves closer to HHS secretary role after Senate vote<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3108,"featured_media":2401849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/rfk-jr-wins-cautious-support-from-pro-life-groups.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[16629,34059,5894,32458,32076],"class_list":["post-2401848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-confirmation","tag-election-2024","tag-politics","tag-rfk-jr","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/rfk-jr-wins-cautious-support-from-pro-life-groups.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2401848"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2401852,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401848\/revisions\/2401852"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2401849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2401848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2401848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2401848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}