You've read 1 article this month

The goal of our journalism is neither balance nor objectivity but accuracy, fairness and a fundamental honesty with our readers and members at all times.

Want better media? Support a better media company

  • Reader-funded
  • Unionized
  • Mission-driven

Cracks Form Around Letting RFK ‘Go Wild’

This is your TPM evening briefing.
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 9: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr. waits to enter a meeting with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) on Capitol Hill on January... WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 9: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr. waits to enter a meeting with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) on Capitol Hill on January 9, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump's nominees for his incoming administration continue to meet with senators on Capitol Hill, weeks before his inauguration. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Amid reports that the adults in Donald Trump’s room may be convincing him to put some guardrails in place on his HHS nominee — whom he vowed to let “go wild on health” — there are also reportedly some cracks forming around the nominee himself within Republican circles.

But it’s not clear if the anti-RFK contingent of Trump allies is yet strong enough to actually make a dent, let alone imperil, RFK Jr.’s ability to be confirmed as HHS secretary.

Earlier this month, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), an actual medical doctor and the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which would be responsible for holding an RFK Jr. confirmation hearing, began making noises about his reluctance to hand over HHS to an anti-vaxxer like RFK. He told Fox News that Kennedy is flat “wrong” on vaccinations and his belief that they’re dangerous and cause autism in America’s youth.

“I will meet with him this coming week,” he said on Fox News Sunday on Jan. 5. “I look forward to the interview. I agree with him on some things and disagree on others. The food safety, I think the ultra-processed food is a problem.”

“Vaccinations, he’s wrong on, and so I just look forward to having a good dialogue with him on that,” Cassidy said.

After meeting with Kennedy on the Hill, Cassidy did not exactly change his tune. Per Politico Playbook:

Yesterday, Sen. BILL CASSIDY (R-La.) — who in addition to chairing the HELP Committee is a medical doctor — met with Kennedy and offered an unenthusiastic-but-diplomatic statement, saying he “had a frank conversation” and spoke with Kennedy “about vaccines at length.”

On Wednesday, more Republican opposition to RFK’s nomination arose, this time due to his hard-to-pin-down stance on abortion, which has ranged from supporting efforts to pass federal Roe protections to claiming he supported non-existent “full-term” abortions to agreeing to back any Republican effort to pass federal abortion restrictions in Congress.

A group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, Advancing American Freedom, put out a letter Wednesday calling on Republican senators to oppose RFK’s nomination over his abortion positions, calling them “completely out of step with the strong, pro-life record of the first Trump Administration.” The letter was first reported by the conservative Daily Wire.

“While RFK Jr. has made certain overtures to pro-life leaders that he would be mindful of their concerns at HHS,” the AAF said in their letter, “there is little reason for confidence at this time.”

The letter criticized Kennedy as being “pro-abortion,” citing his past support for abortions later in pregnancy. This position is “completely out of step with the strong, pro-life record of the first Trump Administration,” the group wrote.

“Whatever the merits of RFK Jr’s Make America Healthy Again initiative — indeed, whatever other qualities a nominee might possess — an HHS Secretary must have a firm commitment to protect unborn children, or else bend under the pressure and pushback surrounding these daily, critical decisions,” AAF President Tim Chapman and Board Chairman Marc Short, Pence’s former chief of staff, wrote in a letter to senators. 

“While RFK Jr. has made certain overtures to pro-life leaders that he would be mindful of their concerns at HHS, there is little reason for confidence at this time,” they wrote.

As head of HHS, Kennedy would have some jurisdiction over the Trump administration’s abortion maneuverings, as both funding for Planned Parenthood and the FDA’s approval of mifepristone fall under HHS’s purview.

The Best Of TPM Today

Catch up on our live coverage of Pam Bondi’s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee here: Pam Bondi Up For Grilling

The latest from Khaya Himmelman on the North Carolina Supreme Court election and Republican efforts to overturn it: North Carolina Republican Tries New Strategy For Stealing State Supreme Court Race

Supreme Court Mulls Letting 5th Circuit Ignore Precedent It Doesn’t Like In Texas Porn Case

Yesterday’s Most Read Story

Trump Pulls A New Fixation Out Of Thin Air And House GOP Runs Off The Cliff With It

What We Are Reading

RFK Jr. Admits He Didn’t Come Clean on Anti-Vax Fortune 

Paul Manafort Is Back to Wreck the World

Few US adults confident Justice Department and FBI will act fairly under Trump, AP-NORC poll finds

Latest Where Things Stand
56
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. Not sure what kind of sexual Trump is, but he sure has a type.

  2. Does this mean cholera, mumps, measles, whooping cough, scarlet fever, smallpox and bubonic plague are free to roam our Country?

  3. Protecting unborn children from the horrors of clean water and air, access to education, parks, and healthcare. Got it.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

50 more replies

Participants

Avatar for ajm Avatar for dmconcannon Avatar for padfoot Avatar for sysprog Avatar for eggrollian Avatar for globalguy Avatar for sniffit Avatar for tacoma Avatar for danny Avatar for tao Avatar for mrf Avatar for hoagie Avatar for darrtown Avatar for isakindamagic Avatar for southerndem Avatar for known_thespian Avatar for formerChild Avatar for uneducated Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for demosthenes59 Avatar for davidn Avatar for jackofalltirades Avatar for rascal_crone Avatar for dogselfie

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher & Digital Producer:
Senior Developer:
Senior Designer: