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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is confirmed as Trump’s secretary after a close Senate vote

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., right, President Donald Trump's nominee to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services, talks with Committee Chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., following his testimony during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing for his pending confirmation on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington. Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as President Donald Trump’s health secretary, putting the prominent vaccine skeptic in control of $1.7 trillion in federal spending, vaccine recommendations and food safety as well as health insurance programs for roughly half the country.

Republicans fell in line behind Trump despite hesitancy over Kennedy views on vaccines, voting 52-48 to elevate the scion of one of America’s most storied political — and Democratic — families to secretary of the Health and Human Services Department. Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, who had polio as a child, was the only “no” vote among Republicans, mirroring his stands against Trump's picks for the Pentagon chief and director of national intelligence. All Democrats opposed Kennedy.

The GOP has largely embraced Kennedy’s vision to “Make America Healthy Again” by directing the public health agencies to focus on chronic diseases such as obesity.

Kennedy, 71, whose name and family tragedies have put him in the national spotlight since he was a child, has earned a formidable following with his populist and sometimes extreme views on food, chemicals and vaccines.

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