Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who was considered open to voting for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to move the Division of Well being and Human Providers, now says the nominee is in deep trouble after his rocky affirmation listening to.
“I don’t think it went well for him today. I don’t think that was a good one,” he mentioned after Kennedy sparred with Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee over his previous statements and stance on vaccines.
Fetterman mentioned after the bruising listening to that he thinks Kennedy’s nomination could also be “moot.”
“It’s moot,” he mentioned when requested if he’s nonetheless open to voting for Kennedy. “I’m not really sure how much support’s going to emerge after that.”
The Pennsylvania Democrat famous he’s met with Kennedy twice already.
“I think we can all agree that was really a difficult performance,” he mentioned. “I’m not sure he’ll even make it out of the committee.”
Sen. Michael Bennet (Colo.), one of many Democrats who grilled Kennedy at his listening to Wednesday, requested him pointedly about his feedback on a podcast that publicity to pesticides might be inflicting extra youngsters to determine as transgender.
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Kennedy additionally acknowledged underneath Bennet’s cross-examination that he “probably did say” that Lyme illness was a militarily-engineered bioweapon.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), in the meantime, tried to pin down Kennedy on his previous views and statements on vaccines in a combative back-and-forth.
“You have a history of trying to take vaccines away from people,” Wyden advised him.
RFJ, Jr.’s nomination can be voted on by the Senate Finance Committee, however earlier than that, he’ll seem earlier than the Senate Well being, Schooling, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee for a second spherical of questioning Thursday.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a member of the HELP Committee and a key Senate swing vote, mentioned it’s “premature” for her to say how she’s going to vote.
“I do not make decisions on nominees prior to the public hearings,” she mentioned.
“It’s totally premature to make a decision prior to the [public hearing],” she added.
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