Senate confirms RFK Jr. as health secretary

What happened

The Senate Thursday confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary, putting a noted vaccine skeptic in charge of America's massive public health system. The 52-48 vote was mostly along party lines, with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) joining all Democrats in voting no. Kennedy was sworn in Thursday afternoon.

Who said what

Kennedy has "earned a formidable following with his populist and sometimes extreme views on food, chemicals and vaccines," The Associated Press said, and his "audience only grew during the Covid-19 pandemic" as he worked to "erode trust in vaccines as well as the government agencies that promote them." His movement has "married the far left and the far right," The New York Times said, but "mainstream Democrats denounce him as a conspiracy theorist and science denier."

Kennedy's confirmation "underscores Trump's hold on the Republican Party," The Washington Post said. Some GOP senators concerned about Kennedy's vaccine views said he assuaged their fears. McConnell was not among them. As a "survivor of childhood polio" who has "watched vaccines save millions of lives from devastating diseases," he said, "I will not condone the re-litigation of proven cures" and "scientific miracles."

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What next?

Kennedy has pledged to "tackle the chronic disease epidemic, rid grocery stores of ultraprocessed foods and root out conflicts of interest in federal agencies," but "has offered few specifics," the Times said. Some allies urged him to concentrate on "less contentious topics like chronic disease and the food supply," but his "vaccine safety" supporters "want to see him focus his energies" on undermining vaccines.