The Senate voted Thursday to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the Trump administration's Health and Human Services Secretary with a vote of 52 to 48.
Kennedy will oversee about 80,000 employees with agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was the sole Republican to vote against Kennedy. McConnell, who had polio as a child, spoke out against Kennedy's efforts to "undermine" the polio vaccine.
"RFK Jr has long expressed views that conflict with scientific evidence, especially on vaccines, and his nomination has provoked opposition from public health experts," the BBC reported. "But he has also adopted positions with popular support, scrutinizing the use of food additives and urging that the power of big pharma be curbed."