Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Confirmed, Swiftly Sworn In as US Health Secretary

WASHINGTON — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as the nation’s new Health and Human Services secretary on Thursday with the Oval Office ceremony coming just hours after the Senate confirmed his nomination by a 52-48 vote.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., a polio survivor concerned by Kennedy’s anti-vaccine advocacy, was the lone Republican to vote against his confirmation, which was also opposed by the entire Democratic conference.

In remarks ahead of Kennedy’s formal swearing in by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump expressed his unwavering support for the latest addition to his Cabinet, predicting Kennedy would “lead a great national mission to make America healthy again.”

“I think he’s going to do things that really make us very proud,” Trump said.

“Like his father, Sen. Robert Kennedy, and his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, Bobby has devoted much of his life to serving his fellow Americans,” he continued.

Reflecting on Kennedy’s unsuccessful bid for the White House last year, Trump called the scion of the fabled Kennedy political dynasty “a tough competitor … who brought together a coalition of supporters across party lines.”

“I did not like it at all,” the president said, eliciting a chuckle from the attendees in the room, including Kennedy’s wife, the actress Cheryl Hines, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Rand Paul, R-Ky.

“I said, ‘Let’s get him on our side,’ and I think a lot of the tremendous, unbelievable support he garnered during his campaign came my way when we decided to do a merger,” he said.

Trump then acknowledged Kennedy’s supporters, who he said “believe in him so strongly because he’s a fierce advocate for the health of our children and for the values of free speech, democracy and peace. 

“People are going to be very impressed” with what Kennedy does in his new role, Trump said. “I have no doubt.”

The president also announced in addition to his duties as secretary, Kennedy will chair a new commission — The President’s Commission to Make America Healthy Again — that will be charged with investigating “what is causing the decadeslong increase in chronic illness.”

Trump said the panel will prepare a comprehensive report on its findings, and an action plan for addressing them.

“It’s going to be a plan that people are really waiting to hear,” the president said.

Kennedy recalled that the first time he visited the Oval Office was in 1962, when he went to the White House to talk to his uncle about the environment.

“He was involved deeply, as you know, in restoring physical fitness in this country,” Kennedy said. “At one point during his administration, he challenged Americans to do a 50-mile walk. And I remember the day my father completed his walk, while we were staying at Camp David. He came in after 18 hours of walking with his feet bleeding and blisters on them.”

Kennedy then recalled his father’s entry into the 1968 presidential campaign, something he initially backed away from. Among those urging Kennedy to run was Allard Lowenstein, a New York pol who had served one term in Congress.

Lowenstein, believing his friend wouldn’t run, decided to back anti-war Sen. Eugene McCarthy, D-Minn., and stuck with McCarthy even after Kennedy changed his mind.

Despite being on opposing sides in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Kennedy said, his father wrote Lowenstein a note in which he quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson.

“If the single man plants himself indomitably on his instincts, and there abides,” the note said, “this huge world will come around to him.”

The younger Kennedy said he took that line to heart. 

“For 20 years I’d get down on my knees every morning and pray that God would put me in a position where I could end the epidemic of chronic illness in children,” he said. “On Aug. 23 of last year, God sent me President Trump.”

Kennedy said a lot of people warned him not to trust Trump, and to get anything he was promised in writing.

Instead, Kennedy relied on an agreement sealed with a handshake, “and he’s kept every promise he made to me and kept his word.”

Turning to Trump, Kennedy added, “I’ve told you before, I genuinely believe that you are a pivotal historical figure and you are going to transform this country.”

With his swearing in, Kennedy is now in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services and more than a dozen agencies it oversees, a workforce of tens of thousands of federal employees charged with ensuring the nation’s health.

Asked about his plans for the agency, Kennedy said, “radical transparency and returning to gold standard science” at the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

He also spoke of “ending the corruption, ending the corporate capture of these agencies, and getting rid of the people on these panels that have conflicts of interest.”

“We can do unadorned and unimpeded science rather than the kind of product that is coming out of those agencies today,” he added.

Ahead of Thursday’s Senate vote, all eyes were on a few Republican senators who could have, had they all voted no, potentially sunk Kennedy’s confirmation.

While McConnell was a firm no, Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R- Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, who were thought to be wavering, both voted in his favor.

In a lengthy post on the X social media platform, Murkowski explained that while she continued to have concerns about his “views on vaccines and his selective interpretation of scientific studies,” she agreed with Kennedy’s contention that the key to reducing the nation’s exorbitant health care costs is “directing our attention to prevention and keeping people healthy.”

“This is the appeal of RFK, and many Alaskans have shared that view with me. Chronic conditions are a significant source of illness and major drivers of public debt; he recognizes this and is committed to addressing it,” she wrote.

She also said that Kennedy had made “numerous commitments” to work with Congress to ensure public access to information and to base vaccine recommendations on data-driven, evidence-based and medically sound research. 

“These commitments are important to me and, on balance, provide assurance for my vote,” she said.

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