Robert Kennedy’s allies are afraid to lose the support of the US Senate

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Robert F -Kennedy Junior’s allies feared that he has failed to persuade a sufficient number of Senators to assure him as the best health official in Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.

KennedyThree people, known as RFK JR, were holding meetings at the last minute with Democrats and Republicans two days before the Senate Finance and Health Committees were interrogated later this week. He has met more than 60 Senate members since his nomination.

A person close to Kennedy said: “There is more concern than ever,” said a person close to Kennedy. “This is a big week: If the vote today will be Iffy. We really need to consolidate the momentum this week to overcome all negativity.”

The opposition of Kennedy’s candidacy has emerged from influential conservative voices, including the Wall Street Journal and the American progress, a group in which former Vice President Mike Pines, who expressed concern about the former Democrat support, participated in the establishment of the former Democrat Abortion.

“The strange thing in RFK is the huge size of Maybes that we need to see and know where they come down – it is undoubtedly one of the most threats to the risk,” said Chris Mechers, Washington Policy analyst at the Investment Bank, Raymond James.

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins, Laza Morkovsky are clear candidates for Kennedy’s nomination. The vote of all three against Defense Minister Trump Beit Higseth last week when he happened Senate confirmation With only one of the tie JD Vance.

However, Kennedy’s support for abortion rights and his push for the disorder of the food industry and financing of biomedical research was also possible sources of the republican opposition, as people recognize his camp.

People said that members of the Senate supporting life, including James Lancord, and Republican Senators such as Todd Young and Tom Telese, who are historically close to the pharmaceutical industry, and those who have a large agricultural industry in their states, such as John Hoffin, were risks to Kennedy, as people said. .

A Yong spokesman said that Senator Indiana held a “very positive” meeting with Kennedy in December. Other representatives did not respond to the requests for comment.

“These are the most subordinate confirmation sessions of any secretary (health and humanitarian services) that we likely saw for many decades,” Mikins said.

Kennedy, a skeptical audio vaccine and a critic for the drug industry, will control a sprawling section with 13 parts, agency and budget of $ 1.8 trillion if confirmed.

A representative of Kennedy said that they have “complete confidence” that he would win the Senate’s vote.

Polymarket gives the Kennedy prediction market a chance of 80 percent to confirm, compared to about 100 percent for candidates such as Scott Bessent, Trump’s choice of Treasury Secretary. Toulcy Gabbard, his candidate as an intelligence director, was only 51 percent.

Kennedy sparked a debate about his previous opposition to some of the children’s vaccines, MMR and Covid-19 JAB stations, although he eased these positions for Carrie for the benefit of Senate members.

He also got $ 11.6 million in vaccine cases over the past two years and said he would do Keep the 10 percent stake In any branch of litigation against the Merck’s Gardasil vaccine. One of his closest advisers – lawyer Aaron Siri – also led a lawsuit trying to cancel the most used polio vaccine.

McConnell, one of the polio survivors, was exposed to a case with Kennedy’s Comments to Combat fax, warning in December that undermining confidence in “installed treatments” was “dangerous”. McConnell representatives and his rebel colleagues did not respond to Higseth, Morkovsky and Collins, for comment requests.

People close to him said that Kennedy’s pledge to ban a high fructose corn syrup was worried about the members of the states of the agricultural heart.

Democratic Senate members such as Shieldon Whitehaus and John Vitirman have flirted with the support of Kennedy’s nomination, which could hold the vote. None of the Senator responded to the suspension requests.

Washington, who is familiar with the delay of Kennedy’s sessions in the Senate, also indicated some concerns that he had not sufficient support.

“When everything is Kumbaya, it is in your motivation to move forward in listening sessions. David Bowen, director of the former health policy of the Senate Health Committee, said that the delay is not your friend.” At best, he will infiltrate into close vote. “