By Jennifer Schutt | AZ Mirror
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. moved one step closer to becoming Health and Human Services secretary on Tuesday after a Senate committee favorably reported his nomination to the floor.
The Finance Committee’s 14-13 party-line vote doesn’t necessarily guarantee Kennedy will receive Senate confirmation, though it signals he does have the chance despite decades of spreading false information about vaccine safety.
Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, who backed Kennedy in committee, said during a floor speech later Tuesday he had received hundreds of messages personally and thousands into his office expressing strong support from some and dismay from others about the prospect of Kennedy gaining Senate confirmation.
“The most notable opponents of Mr. Kennedy were pediatricians on the front lines of our children’s health, who regularly have to combat misinformation,” Cassidy said. “They are aware that children are now contracting diseases that they would not have contracted if the child was vaccinated.”
Cassidy, who worked as a physician for decades before becoming a senator, said Kennedy and the Trump administration have assured him they will protect “the public health benefit of vaccination.”
“Mr. Kennedy and the administration committed that he and I would have an unprecedentedly close, collaborative, working relationship if he is confirmed,” Cassidy said. “We will meet or speak multiple times a month.”