Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, who was previously believed to be willing to vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, has now reportedly stated that the candidate is now in a precarious position as a result of the challenges he faced during his confirmation hearing.
“I don’t think it went well for him today. I don’t think that was a good one,” Fetterman said after the hearing.
Following the tense session, Fetterman expressed his belief that Kennedy’s candidacy might be “moot.”
“It’s moot. I’m not really sure how much support’s going to emerge after that.” Fetterman said.
“I think we can all agree that was really a difficult performance. I’m not sure he’ll even make it out of the committee.” he added.
One of the Democrats who questioned Kennedy during his hearing on Wednesday was Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado.
Bennet challenged Kennedy pointedly about his comments on a podcast, in which he suggested that exposure to pesticides could be the cause of an increase in the number of youngsters who identify as transgender.
In the meantime, Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, engaged in a contentious back-and-forth with Senator Kennedy, attempting to elicit information from him regarding his previous opinions and statements regarding vaccines.
The Senate Finance Committee will vote on RFJ, Jr.’s nomination; however, before that happens, he will appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee for a second round of questioning on Thursday. That will take place before the nomination is voted on.
A critical swing vote in the Senate, Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is also a member of the Higher Education and Labor Policy Committee, stated that it is “premature” for her to announce how she will vote.
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