Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine critic, appointed US health secretary
The Republican-majority US Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary on Thursday, ignoring concerns raised by the medical community about his history of spreading vaccine misinformation and rejecting scientific evidence.
Known widely as "RFK Jr," the 71-year-old nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy secured the nomination by a vote of 52-48, becoming the latest contentious addition to President Donald Trump's cabinet, News.Az reports citing France24.
Former Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell voted no, standing as the sole Republican dissenter.
Kennedy now leads a department overseeing more than 80,000 employees and a $1.7 trillion budget, just as scientists warn of the growing threat of bird flu triggering a human pandemic, while declining vaccination rates mean once vanquished childhood diseases are re-emerging.
But he has spent much of the past two decades touting conspiracy theories from linking childhood vaccines to autism and suggesting the Covid virus spared Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people, to casting doubt on whether germs cause infectious diseases.
Yet it was his shift toward Republican positions -- particularly on abortion, which he once supported but has since signaled a willingness to further restrict -- that ultimately won over conservative lawmakers wary of his past.
During heated confirmation hearings, Democrats pointed to what they called glaring conflicts of interest in Kennedy's financial filings: lucrative consulting fees from law firms suing pharmaceutical companies.
They also called attention to allegations of sexual misconduct and his claims linking school shootings to antidepressants.
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