Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who was thought to be open to voting for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to head the Department of Health and Human Services, now says the nominee is in serious trouble after his rocky confirmation hearing.
“I don’t think it went well for him today. I don’t think that was a good one,” he said after Kennedy sparred with Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee over his past statements and stance on vaccines.
Fetterman said after the bruising hearing that he thinks Kennedy’s nomination may be “moot.”
“It’s moot,” he said when asked if he’s still open to voting for Kennedy. “I’m not really sure how much support’s going to emerge after that.”
The Pennsylvania Democrat noted that he’s met with Kennedy twice already.
“I think we can all agree that was really a difficult performance,” he said. “I’m not sure he’ll even make it out of the committee.”
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) was one of the Democrats who grilled Fetterman at his hearing Wednesday, asking him pointedly about his comments on a podcast that exposure to pesticides could be causing more children to identify as transgender.
Kennedy acknowledged under Bennet’s cross-examination that he “probably did say” that Lyme Disease was a militarily-engineered bioweapon.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), meanwhile, tried to pin down Kennedy on his past views and statements on vaccines in a combative back-and-forth.
“You have a history of trying to take vaccines away from people,” Wyden told him.
RFJ, Jr.’s nomination will be voted on by the Senate Finance Committee, but before that happens, he will appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for a second round of questioning Thursday.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a member of the HELP Committee and a key Senate swing vote, said it’s “premature” for her to say how she will vote.
“I do not make decisions on nominees prior to the public hearings,” she said.
“It’s totally premature to make a decision prior to the [public hearing,]” she added.
