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The allies of Robert f Kennedy JR are afraid that he has failed to convince as many senators as possible to confirm him as Donald Trump’s top health official, according to people familiar with the matter.
Kennedy, known as RFK JR, was holding last -minute meetings with Democrats and Republicans before two days of interrogation by the Senate Finance and Health Committees later this week, three people said. He has met more than 60 senators since his appointment.
“There’s more anxiety now than ever,” said one person near Kennedy. “This is a big week: if the vote were to be today, it would be unhappy. We really need to strengthen the moment this week to overcome all the negativity it has had.”
Opposition to Kennedy’s nomination has emerged from conservative influential rumors, including the Wall Street Journal editorial board and Americans advancing freedom, a group founded by former Mike Pence President who has expressed concern about the support of the former Democrat for rights of abortion.
“What is strange with RFK is the great volume of Maybes we need to look and see where they go down – he is undoubtedly one of the two most endangered candidates,” said Chris Meekins, a policy analyst in Washington investment bank Raymond James.
Republican senators Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski are considered apparent candidates to oppose Kennedy’s appointment. The three voted against the candidate for Trump Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth last week when he secured Senate’s confirmation with only a single vote cast by Vice President JD Vance.
But Kennedy’s support for abortion rights and his impetus to shake the food industry and biomedical research funds were also possible sources of Republican opposition, people in his camp admit.
Pro-life senators, including James Lankford, Republican senators like Todd Young and Thom Tillis who are historically close to the pharmaceutical industry, and those with a large agricultural industry in their countries, such as John Hoeven, were risks for Kennedy, people They said.
A spokesman for Young said the Indiana Senator had a “very positive” meeting with Kennedy in December. Representatives for others did not respond to requests for comment.
“These are the subsequent confirmation hearings for any secretary (health and human services) we have seen in many decades,” Meekins said.
Kennedy, a skeptic of the vocal and critical vaccine of the pharmaceutical industry, would control a widespread department with 13 divisions and agencies and a $ 1.8TN budget if it is confirmed.
One representative for Kennedy said they had “full confidence” that he would win the Senate’s vote.
Polymyt’s market forecast gives Kennedy an 80 percent chance to be confirmed, compared to almost 100 percent for candidates like Scott Bessent, the choice of Trump for the Treasury Secretary. Tulsi Gabbard, his nominee as director of intelligence, was at only 51 percent.
Kennedy has sparked controversy over his earlier opposition to some child vaccines, MMR and Jab Covid-19 shots, though he has mitigated those positions to favor senators.
He also earned $ 11.6 million from vaccine lawsuits over the past two years and said he would take a 10 percent action in every rainfall from the trial against Merck’s Gardasil vaccine. One of his closest advisers – lawyer Aaron Siri – also led a litigation trying to revoke the most widely used poliomyel vaccine.
McConnell, a poliomyelitis survivor, has taken into account Kennedy Antavax’s comments, warning in December that the undermining of “proven cures was” dangerous “. Representatives for McConnell, and his rebellious companions in Hegseth Murskowski and Collins voting, did not respond to requests for comment.
Kennedy’s vow to stop the high fructose corn syrup had also disturbed senators with states in agricultural Heartlands, people near him said.
Democratic senators like Sheldon Whitehouse and John Fetterman have flirted with Kennedy’s nomination support, potentially complicating the vote. No senator responded to requests for comment.
The weekly delay for Kennedy’s senate hearing sessions also showed some concerns that he did not have enough support, noted Washington Insiders.
“When everything is kumbaya, it is in encouraging to push forward with hearing sessions. The delay is not your friend,” said David Bowen, former director of the Health Committee of the Senate. “At best, he will steal with a narrow vote.”
