Can RFK Win Over the Doubters on Capitol Hill?

It appears incoming President Donald Trump just can’t manage to avoid making the most controversial nominations for his next administration. Is that really the case, though, or is it that Trump Derangement Syndrome is causing the establishment media to dream up reasons why none of the president-elect’s picks are acceptable? Then, of course, there’s the selection of outsiders and disruptors – a deliberate strategy on Trump’s part, designed to shake up a moribund federal government that appears increasingly unwilling and unable to solve the country's problems. One of those disruptors is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., RFK, whose perspectives on a couple of issues are causing consternation on both sides of the aisle.

As he heads to Capitol Hill to make his case for why the Senate should consent to his nomination as the new head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), RFK will have to shake off his reputation as an “anti-vaxxer.” It’s not that expressing skepticism about the efficacy of certain vaccines or their sometimes debilitating or dangerous side effects is a bad thing – or at least, it shouldn’t be, especially after the much-touted COVID vaccines proved less effective and more risky than the American people were told. The problem seems to be that most Democrats in Congress, along with quite a lot of Republicans, never came across a vaccine they didn’t believe was the answer to everything.

RFK has toned it down a little, asserting, "If vaccines are working for somebody, I’m not going to take them away.” But he does want more scrutiny and greater transparency. "So, I’m going to make sure scientific safety studies and efficacy are out there, and people can make individual assessments about whether that product is going to be good for them."

Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, with whom RFK has already met, seems to agree and is confident that Kennedy will be confirmed. “We both have the same goal with regard to vaccines,” said Scott. “We want to give people more information so they can make informed decisions.”

Would a GOP Senate Dare Reject RFK?

Media chatter has it that Trump’s HHS pick is making some conservative senators nervous over his views on abortion. Unlike the Democrats, though, Republicans are not zealous about purity tests. No one seriously thinks RFK is going to spend his time championing abortion access, otherwise Senate Democrats would likely be lining up to confirm him.

Kennedy’s greatest ace – regardless of what Republicans, who will hold a Senate majority, are reportedly saying or thinking – is Donald Trump himself. The former and future president built a truly big-tent team during his 2024 campaign, and former Democrat Kennedy was a pivotal figure in that effort. It seems unlikely that Senate GOPers will sink his nomination, despite a few misgivings about vaccines or the fact that he isn’t as staunchly anti-abortion as most Republicans. Sabotaging the nomination of RFK would be a slap in the face for Trump. It’s probably not how the next president’s party wants to begin its four-year relationship with him.

Trump assures doubters that the former Independent presidential candidate, who endorsed him after dropping out of the race, will be “much less radical than you would think,” saying, “I think he’s got a very open mind or I wouldn’t have put him there.”

There’s one strong indication that Trump may have made a wise choice with RFK. USA Today reports that 77 Nobel Prize winners have signed a letter opposing Kennedy’s nomination. This tired leftist tactic – letters signed by multiple “experts” – has become something of a joke. It invariably turns out that whatever these letters claim, the opposite is probably true.