Holdout Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy kept his committee colleagues guessing right to the last minute before voting to back Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Donald Trump’s health secretary.
Cassidy could be seen whispering with fellow GOP Senator Tim Scott moments after the 14-13 vote in favor of Kennedy.
The former physician and strong vaccine proponent wouldn’t comment as he left the chamber after the knife-edge vote and didn’t say what he was telling Scott behind his computer.
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He appeared to be covering his mouth with a tablet so cameras couldn’t see what he was saying, a move often used by sportsmen and women disguising their comments from a TV audience.
Donald Trump’s controversial pick as health secretary won key confirmation backing by a single vote in the Senate Finance Committee and now heads to the Senate floor for a vote by the full 100-member Senate.
Kennedy was not in the committee chamber to hear the result of the vote, which was 14 to 13 in Kennedy’s favor, exactly along party lines.
The vote went right down to the wire with RFK Jr. kept guessing over whether Cassidy would vote in his favor after expressing serious reservations about the nominee.
On Monday, Cassidy said he had “very cordial” conversations with Kennedy but was still “working through” his decision. Then. just minutes before the vote Cassidy tweeted that after “intense conversations” with Kennedy he would be voting “yes.”
He singled out Vice President JD Vance for helping him make up his mind in a post on social media, though he declined to answer reporters' questions as he left the hearing room.
Kennedy faced a fierce grilling by committee members a week ago over his anti-vaxxer views during the pandemic and the money he made through lawsuits taken against drug companies.
As a lifelong Democrat, Kennedy appeared in peril when some Republicans spoke out against him.
But North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis, once thought to be a hold-out, said he would be backing Kennedy at the weekend and Donald Trump has made it clear he expects his choice to be ratified by GOP members.
Kennedy was quizzed over his opposition to vaccines and his role in a deadly measles outbreak in Samoa in 2019 that left dozens of children dead.
He repeatedly staved off claims from questioners that he was an anti-vaxxer and insisted he did support vaccines in many instances.
A scion of the fabled Kennedy clan, he joined forces with Trump after his own campaign for the presidency folded. The unlikely couple have built a Make America Healthy Again movement with widespread support from what Kennedy calls “MAHA Moms.”
Kennedy is a proponent of healthy eating and has criticized Trump’s penchant for fast food and diet cola.
Senator Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the committee, called Kennedy “singularly unfit” for the role as HSS Secretary and claimed he spent the confirmation hearing “dodging and weaving” claims he peddled anti-vaccine conspiracy theories.
He claimed Kennedy would be a “yes man” to Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
He said the healthcare status quo needed changes but said Kennedy would elevate conspiracy theories and would be a “grave threat to the health of the American people.”
