Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is about to face a potential hurdle in his bid to be confirmed as President-elect Donald Trump's secretary of Health and Human Services, reported The Daily Beast: a meeting with Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), one of the few Republicans who may have reason to buck Trump on the issue.
Kennedy is widely known for his conspiracy theories on a broad range of health-related topics, from vaccinations to water fluoridation — and Cassidy happens to be one of a handful of members of Congress who worked as a medical doctor before his election.
Speaking to Fox News over the weekend, Cassidy, who was also one of a small group of GOP senators to vote to convict Trump in the second impeachment trial, said of Kennedy, “I will meet with him this coming week. 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.”
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Cassidy chairs the powerful Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which will be responsible for the initial vetting of Kennedy.
That committee, per The Beast, "is slated to hold a 'courtesy' hearing to weigh Kennedy’s nomination, which has not yet been scheduled. But the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing to decide whether to sendKennedy’s nomination to the chamber floor for a vote, which would likely occur late this month — if Kennedy, whose own family has turned on him, makes it that far."
Kennedy's issues might not be limited to fears from Cassidy over his anti-vaccination stance. Some Republicans from key farming states reportedly have had reservations about his opposition to the widespread use of corn sugar and other additives in food.