Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cleared their first hurdle on Tuesday to become the next director of national intelligence and health secretary, respectively. This comes after two Senate committees moved to advance their nominations to the floor amid increasing pressure from MAGA world.
The unqualified, controversial nominees narrowly won the support of a pair of Senate committees. While neither Gabbard nor Kennedy won any votes from Democrats, they were able to convince one-time skeptical Republicans who waited until the 11th hour to make their vote choice known.
Sen. Susan Collins
In Gabbard’s case, she had to woo Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, and Todd Young of Louisiana. Somehow she succeeded, because, on Monday, Collins announced she would support Gabbard’s bid to lead the U.S. intelligence apparatus, a move which offered a significant boost to the former Hawaii representative’s prospects. Early Tuesday, Young followed suit via a statement to X. The post came mere hours before the Senate Intelligence Committee is set to vote on Gabbard’s nomination.
“American intelligence officers around the globe deserve our respect and support. I appreciate Tulsi Gabbard’s engagement with me on a variety of issues to ensure that our intelligence professionals will be supported and policymakers will receive unbiased information under her leadership,” Young wrote.
Notably, the statement from Young came after he faced a wave of political pressure from Trump allies to back Gabbard. That included repeated pestering by mega-billionaire, and now government employee, Elon Musk, who called Young a “deep state puppet” on social media before deleting the post and saying he stood “corrected.”
It’s possible the pressure from Trump’s “first buddy” got to Young. Gabbard’s allies expressed optimism that Musk’s pivot served as a sign that Young would now back Gabbard.
If anything, Collins’ backing was more surprising. Her yea vote for Gabbard comes roughly one week after she, along with two other Republicans, voted against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the Senate floor.
That, coupled with the fact that a single Republican vote would’ve been enough to prevent Gabbard’s nomination from committee approval made some hopefuls believe that Collins might buck her party once again—or that Young would display some strength of character. But what else should we expect from today’s GOP?
Then again, it’s somewhat shocking that Gabbard made it this far to begin with. Given her unconventional views on Russia and Syria, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expected Gabbard to have a difficult confirmation hearing. And during the open hearing, several Republicans, including both Collins and Young, looked visibly frustrated when Gabbard refused to call whistleblower Edward Snowden a traitor.
Also on Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee voted along party lines, 14-13, to advance the nomination of Kennedy to become the next health secretary.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump's choice to be secretary of Health and Human Services, appears before the Senate Finance Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol, Jan. 29, 2025.
It’s something of a miracle that Kennedy overcame opposition from members of both parties regarding his views on abortion, food regulation, and vaccines, as well as his strange and allegedly “predatory” personal behavior.
If anything, Kennedy has Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, of Louisiana, to thank for making it to the next round of the confirmation process. Republicans only have one more member on the committee than Democrats, meaning Cassidy essentially had the power to decide how the vote went.
Cassidy, a former physician who was previously on the fence about Kennedy, announced in a social media post that he’d had “intense conversations with Bobby” and was convinced to vote in favor of his nomination.
This, of course, is a pivot from where the senator was just a week ago. At the time, Cassidy said he had been “struggling” with Kennedy’s nomination because he feared that Kennedy, who had promoted vaccine conspiracy theories for years, could undermine faith in vaccines.
Apparently, those fears were short-lived. According to CBS News, Cassidy and Kennedy spoke on Sunday, though Cassidy did not disclose how he planned to vote during their conversation.
While it’s possible Cassidy could still vote no against Kennedy on the Senate floor, he’s not indicated that he would do so. Now that he’s reached the full Senate, three other Republicans would need to oppose him to tank his confirmation, assuming all Democrats oppose him. That might be easier said than done, though: No Republican senators have said so far that they plan to vote against Kennedy.
Senate Republicans have pushed to quickly confirm Trump’s Cabinet nominees and administration officials. Just look at Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who both sailed to confirmation. Then there’s embattled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who eked by with a 51-50 vote on his confirmation.
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