From 'brilliant' to 'dangerous': Mixed reactions roll in after Trump picks RFK Jr. for top health post
In the hours after President-elect Donald Trump announced that vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was his pick for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, mixed reactions began rolling in from the senators needed to support his confirmation.
WASHINGTON — In the hours after President-elect Donald Trump announced that vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was his pick to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, mixed reactions began rolling in from the senators needed to support his confirmation.
Trump's Cabinet selections will face Senate confirmation votes — and unconventional picks like Kennedy could face a bumpy process in a Republican-controlled Senate with little room for error.
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who Republicans tapped to be their new leader in the chamber, declined to provide a reaction to Kennedy's selection, saying, "I don’t have any at this point."
Thune ducked a question about whether he would support Kennedy's confirmation, saying that the process "is just getting started" and adding that there would be "a vetting process."
"I’m not going to make any judgments about any of these folks at this point, like I said, it’s a confirmation process that we have to adhere to constitutionally," said Thune, when asked whether he thinks Kennedy is qualified. "There are committees that are going to be conducting hearings, and there’ll be plenty of scrutiny of these nominees records when the time comes."
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