Robert Kennedy allies fear he could lose US Senate confirmation vote

 

Donald Trump’s pick to run health department has faced criticism over anti-vaccine stance. Robert F Kennedy Jr’s allies fear that he has failed to convince enough senators to confirm him as Donald Trump’s top health official, according to people familiar with the matter.

Kennedy, known as RFK Jr, was holding last-minute meetings with Democrats and Republicans ahead of two days of questioning by the Senate’s finance and health committees later this week, three people said. He has met more than 60 senators since his nomination.

“There’s more anxiety now than ever,” said a person close to Kennedy. “This is a big week: if the vote were today it would be iffy. We really need to solidify momentum this week to overcome all the negativity there’s been.”

Opposition to Kennedy’s nomination has emerged from influential conservative voices, including The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board and Americans Advancing Freedom, a group co-founded by former vice-president Mike Pence that has expressed concern about the former Democrat’s support for abortion rights.

“What’s weird with RFK is the sheer volume of maybes that we need to watch and see where they come down — he is undoubtedly one of the two most endangered nominees,” said Chris Meekins, a Washington policy analyst for investment bank Raymond James.

Republican Senators Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski are considered obvious candidates to oppose Kennedy’s nomination. All three voted against Trump’s defence secretary nominee Pete Hegseth last week when he secured senate confirmation with just a single tiebreaking vote cast by vice-president JD Vance.

But Kennedy’s support for abortion rights and his push to shake up the food industry and biomedical research funding were also potential sources of Republican opposition, people in his camp acknowledge.

Pro-life senators including James Lankford, Republican senators such as Todd Young and Thom Tillis who are historically close to the pharmaceutical industry, and those with a large agricultural industry in their states, such as John Hoeven, were risks for Kennedy, the people said.

A spokesperson for Young said the Indiana senator had a “very positive” meeting with Kennedy in December. Representatives for the others did not respond to requests for comment.

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