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CV NEWS FEED // In a 52-48 vote Thursday, the U.S. Senate confirmed attorney and former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Catholic, as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the second Trump administration.
All Republican senators except for former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, voted to confirm Kennedy, while all members of the Senate Democratic caucus voted against the confirmation.
The White House’s X account stated that Kennedy’s confirmation “underscores President Trump’s dedication to empowering Americans with healthier lives, restoring trust in public health institutions, and championing medical freedom for all.”
“MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN!” the Trump-linked account added, repeating a phrase widely associated with policies for which Kennedy advocated.
During his Senate confirmation hearing last month, Kennedy responded to a pro-life senator’s question: “I agree with President Trump that every abortion is a tragedy. I agree with him that we cannot be a moral nation if we have 1.2 million abortions a year.”
“I serve at the pleasure of the president,” Kennedy said. “I’m going to implement his policies.”
McConnell is thus far the only Republican senator to have voted against confirming more than one of Trump’s nominees for Cabinet-level positions. He was also the lone Republican senator to oppose Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard, during her successful confirmation vote Wednesday.
Last month, McConnell was one of three Republican senators to oppose Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth – who was still confirmed due to Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote.
The longtime senator from Kentucky is up for reelection next year, but he has not yet decided whether he is running for what would be his eighth term. Although McConnell recently stepped down as Senate Republican leader, he remains a member of the upper chamber.
As CatholicVote reported earlier this month, Kennedy frequently “advocates for addressing the country’s epidemic of chronic disease, removing harmful substances and additives from food, and reining in the power of large pharmaceutical companies (colloquially known as ‘Big Pharma’).”
Shortly after the outbreak of COVID-19, Kennedy emerged as a prominent critic of COVID shot mandates and other coronavirus-related restrictions. He became an outspoken opponent of the controversial Dr. Anthony Fauci, who served as Chief Medical Advisor to former President Joe Biden. In 2021, Kennedy penned the New York Times bestselling book “The Real Anthony Fauci.”
The newly confirmed Secretary is the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and the son Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, both of whom were assassinated during his youth in the 1960s.
Kennedy was a member of the Democratic Party – like his father and uncle – up until he changed his voting registration to independent in 2023. Leading up to his exit from the party, he was a candidate for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, challenging then-President Joe Biden.
>> AUGUST 2024: RFK JR. ENDORSES TRUMP <<
After leaving the Democratic Party, Kennedy remained in the presidential race as an independent until August 2024 – when he suspended his campaign to endorse Trump. It was the first time the former lifelong Democrat had ever publicly endorsed a Republican.
At the time, Kennedy railed against his former party, lamenting that it had “become the party of war, censorship, corruption, Big Pharma, Big Tech, Big Ag[riculture], and big money.”
“In the name of saving democracy, the Democratic Party has set itself to dismantling it,” he said.
Two months later, Kennedy starred in a pro-Trump ad produced by CatholicVote in which he called on Catholics to back the then-Republican nominee.
“Catholics may disagree on many issues, but we must find a way to love our children more than we hate each other,” Kennedy said in the ad. “I hope you’ll join me in supporting Donald Trump.”
>> OCTOBER 2024: RFK JR. STARS IN CATHOLICVOTE AD <<
Democratic lawmakers vociferously opposed Trump’s nomination of Kennedy. Many observers argued that the Democratic opposition was largely due to Kennedy’s criticism of large pharmaceutical corporations and their interests.
Minutes before the Senate voted to confirm Kennedy, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, said during a speech on the Senate floor: “Previous HHS secretaries have had a pharmaceutical industry background, have been a state health commissioner, have run health systems, have been governors.”
“Somebody who has had a background in actually administering the programs that HHS administers,” Schumer continued. “I ask my colleagues, which of these qualifications does RFK possess? You know the answer. None of them.”
