Robert F Kennedy Jr and Tulsi Gabbard erased a key obstacle on the way to the Senate confirmation for the office of the cabinet that US President Donald Trump appointed them to assume.
Kennedy was used to be the next secretary in the United States, while Gabbard was chosen to be director of national intelligence. Both are considered controversial choices and it was uncertain that they would have enough support for a full vote from the Senate.
But, Tuesday, Kennedy was approved by the Senate finance committee during a 14-13 vote that separated from the party. Only the Republicans voted in favor of him.
Gabbard, on the other hand, survived a close vote of 9-8 before the senatorial intelligence committee – which also separated from the party of the parties.
Their two appointments will now move to a vote before the full American Senate, which the Republicans control 53-47.
The advances in the appointment of Kennedy
During the confirmation process, Kennedy received some opposition from the legislators from both parties due to his vaccine skepticism. Some also wondered if he had enough expertise on issues, including public health infrastructure and health programs.
However, he spent a large part of his audiences, insisting that he was not opposed to vaccines – nor a conspiracy theorist – but only supported more rigorous security tests.
However, senators have often focused on his past comments, including an appearance to the podcast where he said: “There is no safe and effective vaccine.”
Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who works with the Democrats, congratulated the slogan “Make America Healthy Healthy” from Kennedy. But the senator has also shown photos of baby clothes printed with anti-vaccine messages sold by the defense of children’s health, an organization that the candidate led until recently.
Kennedy replied that he had no more surveillance from the group.
Although Kennedy’s testimony last week has won no democrat with him, he managed to obtain the crucial support of the Republican senator from Louisiana, Bill Cassidy.
Cassidy, a doctor, had expressed skepticism about Trump’s candidate, but announced that he would support him after receiving “serious commitments” by Kennedy and the White House. This opens the way to a full vote of the Senate.
Kennedy is the son of Robert F Kennedy and the nephew of President John F Kennedy.
He first launched a race for the Democratic presidential appointment in 2024, but then set up an independent offer before abandoning and approving Trump.
The American political scion initially made its name as an environmental lawyer before turning to criticism of American health care – including food security and anti -vaccinity – in recent years.
As secretary to health, Kennedy would be in charge of immense agencies such as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Kennedy has suggested dismissing many people who work for these federal agencies, and Trump said that he would give his candidate wide latitude to reform American food and health systems.
Skeptical republicans do not block Gabbard
Gabbard was also confronted with the opposition for certain controversial positions passed, in particular his decision to meet and defend former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in 2017, as well as a previous push to obtain a forgiveness for the denunciator of the Edward Snowden National Security Agency.
At one point, Gabbard was pressed by the Republican and Democrats senators to find out if she ranked Snowden – who fled to Russia to avoid American police – like a “traitor”. She refused to respond directly, only saying that he “breaks the law”.
She added that he had exposed “flagrant illegal and unconstitutional programs that led to reforms, but she argued that she would work to block future leaks and illegal disclosure.
Several senators also noted that Gabbard had defended the invasion of Ukraine by Russia at the start of the war. Democratic senator Michael Bennet accused Gabbard of agreeing that a “totalitarian state” was “justified to ride on the peaceful border of Ukraine”.
However, the Republican senators who were initially skeptical about Gabbard finally joined her.
Senator Susan Collins of Maine said on Monday said that Gabbard had responded to her concerns. Senator Todd Young of Indiana announced a day later that he too would support Gabbard after having obtained his commitment to “advance our national security”.
Gabbard is a former MP of Hawaii and a military veteran who served with a medical unit in Iraq.
She was previously a member of the Democratic Party and had defended liberal causes such as the health care managed by the government during her congress service.
In 2020, she ran for democratic presidential appointment and then abandoned and approved Joe Biden.
Gabbard left the Democratic Party in 2022, accusing them of being “heat” led by “loose unlocking”. She became independent before becoming a republican in 2024 and supporting Trump’s presidential candidacy.
If it is confirmed by the full Senate, it would manage a budget of more than $ 70 billion (55 billion pounds sterling) and would supervise 18 intelligence agencies.
