Full Senate confirms Kennedy into HHS Cabinet position

He said he has long “disturbed the status quo by asking uncomfortable questions.” He said overhauling the U.S. food system “simply cannot succeed if we do not have the partnership of America’s farmers.” He said declines in rural health are “undoubtedly related to the intensity of chemical pesticides.”

After a 52-48 largely party-line vote in the U.S. Senate on Thursday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was given the keys to realize his Make America Healthy Again vision as the new secretary of Health and Human Services.

While much of his tense confirmation hearings the last week of January focused on RFK Jr.’s perspective on vaccines, abortion access, and chronic illness in America, farmers specifically had a vested interest in the nominee’s fate: The HHS Cabinet position includes leadership over the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, both of which carry powerful influence in the research, communication, record-keeping, and regulation of American agriculture.

All told, the Department of Health and Human Services typically accounts for about $1.7 trillion in annual spending — at least before the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency gets its say.

Trump “has instructed me to take care of the farmers and make sure they’re full partners” in food policy moving forward, RFK Jr. has said throughout the process. 

A pivotal step in his confirmation was winning over Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and physician who didn’t publicly commit to supporting Kennedy until the Senate panel vote on Feb. 4. Cassidy said he “struggled” with Kennedy’s nomination after the confirmation hearing but that long discussions with both Kennedy and Vice President JD Vance in the days leading up to the vote were reassuring.

Cassidy told the full Senate after the vote that Kennedy promised to maintain the CDC’s advisory committee on immunization practices and that he would not remove statements on the CDC’s website noting that vaccines do not cause autism.

“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. This collaboration will allow us to work well together and therefore to be more effective.”

RFK Jr. was one of President Donald Trump’s most contentious nominees. From one Democratic lawmaker, Kennedy was told he was “singularly unfit to serve as HHS secretary,” while another said, “Mr. Kennedy has embraced conspiracy theories, quacks, charlatans, especially when it comes to the safety and efficacy of vaccines.” His own cousin, former U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, also called the nominee unfit for the HHS job and a “predator.”

Kennedy hails from a family that’s often referred to as an American political dynasty and spent almost his entire life as a Democrat before becoming an Independent in 2023 in order to better position himself for a 2024 presidential run. After ending that campaign, he allied with Trump, and it was clear since before the election that Kennedy would be nominated for a prime position in the administration were Trump to win.