Photo: Alamy
Several Senate Democrats are reportedly considering supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the Health and Human Services Secretary for the second Trump administration, according to a new report by The Hill.
With the upcoming confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet, Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and John Fetterman, D-Pa., are supposedly open to confirming Kennedy, despite their party’s more widespread opposition for his nomination.
The report highlighted Kennedy’s criticisms of harmful food and healthcare chemicals allegedly employed by corporate industries as major selling points to Sanders and Fetterman.
A source close to Sanders’ office told The Hill that the senator would utilize the candidate to “point out the shortcomings of the industrial food system” and the supply chains.
The source also named Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., as another potential vote for Kennedy, explaining that the two “overlap on many health issues.”
Meanwhile, Fetterman, who previously wrote to X that U.S. senators have a “responsibility” to “have a conversation” with the president-elect’s nominees, said he saw opportunity rather than opposition to working alongside Kennedy, especially with school lunches.
“If he supports pure food in schools, hey, I’m here to show up and work for that,” Fetterman told Spotlight On America. “I hope Mr. Kennedy could see your report and realize, you’ve got people of the other party, I’m inviting him. We can work together on that.”
To be confirmed, Kennedy needs at least 50 senators to vote for his approval. If successful, Kennedy would then oversee the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.