{"id":118883,"date":"2024-12-10T22:18:54","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T22:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=118883"},"modified":"2024-12-10T22:18:54","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T22:18:54","slug":"rfk-jr-faces-trouble-in-the-senate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=118883","title":{"rendered":"RFK Jr. faces trouble in the Senate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: Politics<\/p>\n

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the latest Donald Trump Cabinet pick facing trouble in the Senate.<\/p>\n

At least three closely watched senators are noncommittal about confirming the vaccine critic, who\u2019s being considered to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Those include swing votes like Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, as well as Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a physician who will chair a committee that could host confirmation hearings for Kennedy.<\/p>\n

Kennedy can afford to lose only three Republicans during his confirmation if all Senate Democrats vote against him.<\/p>\n

This group of senators closely resembles those who weren\u2019t sold on former Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general or have questioned defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth. While Hegseth\u2019s embattled nomination has sucked up most of the media oxygen recently, that doesn\u2019t mean Kennedy or others will sail through the chamber smoothly.<\/p>\n

Other nominees seem to have benefited from Gaetz\u2019s and Hegseth\u2019s troubles as well, flying under the radar despite potential problems. Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard\u2019s future as director of national intelligence could face turbulence over her past comments on Russia, among other issues. And Trump\u2019s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, has faced little to no criticism from senators so far, despite his stated intentions to clean house at the bureau.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a week going after Tulsi Gabbard. Now, I guess they’re gonna skip over Kash [Patel] and then go after RFK next week, because he\u2019s coming,\u201d said Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), who said he\u2019s meeting with Kennedy next Tuesday. Tuberville broadly supports Trump\u2019s nominees and said Kennedy has \u201cgot a lot of great ideas\u201d and is \u201coutside the box.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Kennedy\u2019s political baggage is another problem Republicans can’t ignore, as they try to remain largely deferential to the president-elect. Though many have boasted about party unity, some are increasingly anxious about giving a rubber stamp to nominees far outside the mainstream. But tanking more of Trump\u2019s picks could end up sparking his ire, with Republicans bracing for him to boost primary challengers against those who won\u2019t go along.<\/p>\n

Unlike Gaetz and Hegseth, Kennedy has a lot of policy-centric issues, rather than mainly personal scandals. The former Democratic-turned-independent presidential candidate has a long history of vaccine skepticism and has espoused the debunked theory that vaccines have caused an increase in autism. He\u2019s called sexual assault allegations<\/a> against him \u201cgarbage\u201d while also noting \u201cI\u2019m not a church boy.\u201d And some of his proposals, like removing fluoride from American drinking water or reevaluating childhood vaccine recommendations, have drawn instant criticism from health experts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realize Covid got to be pretty controversial, but vaccinations are an important part of our public health, starting with the requirement that kids get vaccinations before they go to school,\u201d Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said, noting he has questions about Kennedy\u2019s stance on the issue.<\/p>\n

When asked if Kennedy\u2019s past controversies will bog down his nomination, Cassidy said everyone wants to \u201cpredict the future\u201d but he just wants to \u201clet things play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Hegseth\u2019s issues have brought another facet of the battle into sharp focus, as he insists that he will keep fighting and not withdraw. Conservative voices have mounted intense pressure campaigns against senators who aren\u2019t openly supporting Trump picks \u2014 Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) was particularly targeted online and on TV when she withheld her support for Hegseth. She\u2019s sounded a more positive note on the pick to lead the Pentagon this week.<\/p>\n

Kennedy\u2019s meetings with senators still could change his prospects \u2014 it\u2019ll be the opportunity for questioning that many senators have been seeking. But meetings so far have proved minimally fruitful for Trump\u2019s most controversial nominees, like Gaetz and Hegseth.<\/p>\n

There has been speculation that Kennedy, who ran for president as a Democrat just last year before switching to an independent and later dropping out and endorsing Trump, could find salvation among Democratic senators. Many have known him or his family long before he ran for the presidency.<\/p>\n

But a quick survey of Democrats didn\u2019t turn up much in the way of positive comments. A handful gave deferential answers to the nomination process, saying they looked forward to meeting with him in committee and asking him questions. Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) said he wants Kennedy to \u201chave his chance to make his pitch.\u201d Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) similarly said he wants to talk to Kennedy directly and has \u201ca lot of questions for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others weren\u2019t so timid. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee member, said he doesn\u2019t want a \u201cdenier of science\u201d helming the nation\u2019s top health agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get that there are quid-pro-quos in politics, but that one’s a pretty naked one,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cI know politics is crass, but that’s pretty fucking crass.\u201d<\/p>\n

And a GOP senator, granted anonymity to speak candidly, last week suggested Kennedy might be the next of Trump\u2019s nominees to face problems in the Senate. They noted that goodwill from Democrats toward the nominee may even \u201churt\u201d his chances with Republicans.<\/p>\n

Kennedy\u2019s former party affiliation did prove a testy point with some members of the Senate GOP. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said \u201cthat’s a factor, because then you\u2019ve got to go back and figure out what\u2019s changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI often say about him and Tulsi [Gabbard], a few weeks ago, they were both Democrats,\u201d Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said. \u201cAnd so we ought to tread somewhat carefully. We’re all for recruitment, and we love people to come over. But you oftentimes don’t put a baby convert in the pulpit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben Leonard contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

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Source: Politics Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the latest Donald Trump Cabinet pick facing trouble in the Senate. At least three closely watched senators are noncommittal about confirming the vaccine… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118883"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=118883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118883\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=118883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=118883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=118883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}