Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary, passed through the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday in a 14-13 vote.
Senators in the committee voted on Tuesday morning. All eyes were on Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who announced right before the vote that he would, in fact, vote yes on Kennedy.
“I’ve had very intense conversations with Bobby and the White House over the weekend and even this morning,” he wrote, signaling that Vice President JD Vance was involved in pushing Kennedy across the finish line in the committee.
“I want to thank VP JD specifically for his honest counsel. With the serious commitments I’ve received from the administration and the opportunity to make progress on the issues we agree on like healthy foods and a pro-American agenda, I will vote yes,” the senator added.
President Donald Trump also released a pro-Kennedy statement ahead of the vote.
“20 years ago, Autism in children was 1 in 10,000. NOW IT’S 1 in 34. WOW! Something’s really wrong. We need BOBBY!!!” he said. Thank You! DJT”
From the beginning, Kennedy addressed his critics head-on, noting during his committee hearing that he disturbs the status quo by asking “uncomfortable questions.”
“Well, I’m not going to apologize for that. We have massive health problems in this country that we must face honestly, and the first thing I’ve done every morning for the past 20 years is to get on my knees and pray to God that he would put me in a position to end the chronic disease epidemic and to help America’s children,” he revealed, expressing gratitude for President Trump for putting him in the position.
Ultimately, he argued that the central goal of making America healthy again is crucial to solving a myriad of other problems, because the overall “ship is sinking.”
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“Our 60 percent increase in Medicaid over the past four years is the biggest budget line now, and it’s growing faster than any other, and no other nation the world has what we have here. No other nation has a chronic disease,” he explained. “We have the highest chronic disease burden of any country in the world.”
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The hearing did have bizarre moments as well, one of which involved Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — whom Kennedy called out at another hearing for taking pharmaceutical dollars — demanding Kennedy to condemn baby onesies with the slogans “Unvaxxed Unafraid” and “No Vax. No Problem.”
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Following the panel vote, Kennedy’s nomination now moves to the full Senate chamber.
Jesus Christ is King
