The Senate has not yet voted on whether to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the government’s health agencies, but Republicans in the chamber are already gearing up to push Kennedy’s agenda on Capitol Hill.
Five GOP senators said Thursday they’d created a caucus to promote the ideals of Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement.
Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) are the founding members.
The caucus’ stated purpose is to implement legislation in line with Kennedy’s agenda, as well as work with state and local governments to do the same. President-elect Donald Trump nominated Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services last month.
The policy goals include promoting food and non-pharmaceutical interventions and encouraging agricultural practices that improve the nutritional value of food, as well as furthering efforts to research, prevent and treat chronic diseases. The group also plans to push for more access to affordable primary care.
Why it matters: Kennedy, a longtime Democrat and scion of the country’s most famous Democratic family, has worked as an anti-vaccine activist and environmentalist. He’s also at times supported abortion rights.
That doesn’t appeal to many Republicans, but the formation of the caucus is in keeping with what GOP senators told POLITICO this week: that they see a lot to like about Kennedy’s focus on the root causes of disease, his desire to overhaul the public health bureaucracy and his history of challenging experts the Republicans think steered the country wrong during the Covid pandemic.
The caucus also suggests some GOP senators are willing to take on parts of Kennedy’s health policy vision as their own — while hoping to incorporate their long-standing goals in that work.
Kennedy, too, has bent in his sales pitch to senators whose votes he will need to win confirmation. He has backpedaled on his vaccine skepticism, for instance, saying he would not take away vaccines from people who want them.
And the caucus’ goals suggest that it expects Kennedy will promote issues that he has not previously focused on but the senators have, such as expanding community health centers, telehealth access and health savings accounts. Members say those policies would expand care access and affordability.
What’s next: The Finance Committee, where Johnson has a seat, is expected to hold Kennedy’s confirmation hearing early next year. Marshall and Tuberville are on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which could also seek to hear from Kennedy.