A handful of Senate Democrats are mentioned to be leaving the door open to voting for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to develop into the following Well being and Human Companies secretary.
As preparations for affirmation hearings start to take form, a number of sources say Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and John Fetterman (D-Pa.), specifically, are not less than contemplating voting for Kennedy, noting shared critiques on heavy company affect over meals and a want to advertise a much less chemical-laden nation.
Their perceived openness comes regardless of a fervent backlash towards Kennedy’s nomination from many inside the Democratic Occasion, the place his controversial stances on vaccinations nonetheless may very well be a deciding issue for a lot of who see his views as harmful for public well being.
Nonetheless, some consider quite a lot of Democrats are signaling they wish to give President-elect Trump’s ally and ex-presidential rival an opportunity to make his case.
“I think Bernie will give him a fair review,” mentioned one supply near the senator’s workplace.
Lawmakers are notoriously tight-lipped about their votes forward of many Cupboard fights. The optics of backing any nominee by Trump put most Democrats in a tough place. And Kennedy specifically makes issues extra difficult.
Democrats spent portion of the election final yr making an attempt to keep away from the Unbiased candidate after he modified events. Those that didn’t ignore him outright tried to cease him from gaining recognition with voters, involved that any sort of third-party assist may spell hassle for them within the normal election.
When it turned apparent his candidacy wouldn’t change the result of the race, Democrats adopted his strikes even much less intently — till Trump tapped him to guide HHS, catapulting him again into the highlight.
Now Democrats are pressured to consider him as soon as once more. And a few look like doing so willingly. Sanders has taken steps lately that some allies see as serving to him set the stage for providing constructive assist for Kennedy.
“I definitely think his Senate office will use the opportunity to point out the shortcomings of the industrial food system, supply chains, etc.,” mentioned the supply near Sanders’s group. “I think they’ve been doing a little of that already.”
The Hill has reached out to Sanders’s workplace for remark.
Sanders penned an op-ed in The Guardian this week outlining proposed reforms to the well being care system, which he known as “dysfunctional” — extending his customary argument that the present construction favors company pursuits over the wellbeing of sick individuals.
The Vermont senator argued for across-the-board reform to the meals business, writing: “Large food corporations should not make record-breaking profits making children addicted to processed foods, which make them overweight and prone to diabetes and other diseases.”
His critique echoes what Kennedy has mentioned on the marketing campaign path and as a part of his Trump-aligned “Make America Healthy Again” initiative. “As a start, we must ban junk-food ads targeted to kids and put strong warning labels on products high in sugar, salt and saturated fat,” Sanders wrote. “Longer term, we can rebuild rural America with family farms that are producing healthy, nutritious food.”
Kennedy has mentioned a lot of the identical, and has develop into a well-liked determine amongst well being aware voters in Trump’s rising coalition who share his stance on the unfavourable results of processed meals and components.
Hoping to additional construct assist, he lately visited Capitol Hill for his well being agenda, which he has telegraphed could be central to his method at HHS. Kennedy met with Republican Sens. John Barrasso (Wyo.), Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), and Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), amongst others.
His public bids for “yes” votes from GOP senators is an anticipated a part of the rallying course of forward of his listening to within the higher chamber. Kennedy would want the overwhelming majority of Republican votes — all besides three — to be confirmed to guide the well being division, which additionally oversees the Meals and Drug Administration and the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.
If he convinces only one Democrat to vote for him, he’ll have barely extra respiratory room.
Progressive firebrand Nina Turner, a former congressional candidate who’s near Sanders, speculated it may very well be both him or Fetterman, who has disavowed the “progressive” label.
“I am no expert on Fetterman, but my sense is that he and [Sanders] will vote for RFK,” Turner mentioned.
Fetterman beforehand appeared to lean towards Kennedy, telling the publication Roll Name in November: “I’m not going to really take any kind of advice [from] a dude that chainsaws whale heads and delivers dead bears into a park.”
However that sentiment may very well be altering. Some Trump-aligned figures accustomed to Kennedy’s actions applaud the Pennsylvania senator’s obvious openness to his concepts.
“Fetterman has impressed me with his willingness to meet with Trump’s nominees without the normal partisan spin and insults attached to the process,” a pro-Kennedy supply mentioned. “To me, he’s signaling to MAGA that he’s open to working together on areas that can benefit the people and help everyday people.”
“Fetterman,” the supply added, is “definitely a swing vote for all of Trump’s nominees.”
The supply additionally prompt Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who maintains a wholesome way of life as a vegan, may very well be one other Democrat to look at. “Booker sounds open to working with Bobby,” the supply mentioned, noting they “overlap on many health issues.”
The Hill has contacted Fetterman and Booker’s places of work for remark.
Nonetheless, most Democrats, together with different liberals like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), will not be keen to entertain the thought of Kennedy on the high well being company, with a few of his extra disputed stances on vaccines inflicting autism and up to date modifications in positions on abortion prone to obtain additional scrutiny in entrance of the panel.
Even some Republicans have expressed considerations about his stances on particular vaccines and have shared a want to listen to extra plans for sure pictures, which may impair his nomination in different methods. Kennedy lately clarified he was “all for the polio vaccine” — a degree of prior concern — to reporters, a sign that the environmental lawyer is beginning to soften his posture, conscious of the fragile steadiness of the Senate make-up.
One other high Democrat, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), known as it “outrageous and dangerous for people in the Trump Transition to try and get rid of the polio vaccine” in a submit final month on the social platform X.
The vaccine skepticism, which Democrats have escalated post-nomination, may finally be what sinks his ascent. It’s an open query whether or not he’ll be capable to persuade any members of the opposing get together to prioritize his wholesome meals agenda over the science denial with which they’ve come to think about him.
“Even though they align on their critiques of the corporate food system, Bernie’s commitment to public health will put him at odds with his pronouncements on vaccines,” mentioned the supply near the senator’s workplace.
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