Newly confirmed United States Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-WASHINGTON, D.C. - Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a member of the famed Kennedy family and an outspoken vaccine skeptic, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday as United States Health and Human Services secretary.

The U.S Senate voted 52-48 for confirmation with former minority leader Sen. Mitch Mcconnell of Kentucky the only Senate Republican to vote no, a second no vote after he opposed the nomination of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, whom the Senate confirmed on Wednesday with widespread Republican support.

An unsuccessful Democratic candidate for president in 2020, Kennedy is a son of U.S. Attorney General and Senator Robert F. Kennedy and a nephew of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Senator Ted Kennedy.

President Donald Trump tapped Kennedy, 71, to lead the nation's healthcare system amid opposition and a scathing rebuke from Senate Democrats and prominent pro-healthcare organizations from across the country. Republicans, however, control the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House, a powerful mechanism.

Democratic federal lawmakers rejected Kennedy's confirmation in unison as their clout continues to wane at the federal level.

RFK Jr. also faced scrutiny from prominent members of the Kennedy family clan, including Caroline Schlossberg Kennedy, a former U.S. ambassador to Australia and the daughter of JFK. She described her first cousin as an anti-vaccine predator who abused animals and she lobbied against his confirmation, with RFK Jr. saying upon confirmation that he is not against anybody getting a vaccine.

Dems in both the House and the Senate remain up in arms over what they say is the president's execution of a sweeping anti-democratic agenda to change Washington politics overnight by firing federal employees who oversee the government and targeting national resources for marginalized groups and foreign aid to countries of color, the Constitution and other authorities be damned.

Trump says he is merely doing what the American voters put him in office to do.

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