Vaccine critic RFK Jr. confirmed as US health secretary

WASHINGTON (AFP): The Republican-controlled US Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary Thursday, ignoring dire warnings from the medical community and elevating his anti-vaccine advocacy into the highest levels of government.

Known widely as “RFK Jr.,” the 71-year-old nephew of the late president John F. Kennedy secured confirmation in a 52-48 vote largely along party lines, becoming the latest contentious addition to President Donald Trump’s cabinet.

Kennedy now heads a department overseeing 80,000 employees and a $1.7 trillion budget as scientists warn of a potential bird flu pandemic and with declining vaccination rates leading to the resurgence of once-vanquished childhood diseases.

Once a celebrated environmental lawyer who sued chemical giant Monsanto and accused climate-change deniers of being traitors, Kennedy has spent much of the past two decades touting conspiracy theories: from linking childhood vaccines to autism and suggesting the Covid virus spared Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people to casting doubt on whether germs truly cause infectious diseases.

Yet it was his shift toward Republican positions — particularly on abortion rights, which he once supported but has since signaled a willingness to further restrict — that won over conservative lawmakers wary of his past.

During heated confirmation hearings, Democrats pointed to what they called glaring conflicts of interest in Kennedy’s financial filings, including lucrative consulting fees from law firms suing pharmaceutical companies.

They also highlighted allegations of sexual misconduct and his claims linking school shootings to antidepressants.

Ultimately, only one Republican senator voted against him: former Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, a childhood survivor of polio. Democrats were united in opposition.

“I’ve watched vaccines save millions of lives from devastating diseases across America and around the world,” said the 82-year-old, who is not expected to seek re-election.

“I will not condone the re-litigation of proven cures, and neither will millions of Americans who credit their survival and quality of life to scientific miracles.”