By Amanda Seitz

Washington (AP) -The Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary of President Donald Trump on Thursday and provided the outstanding vaccine skeptic of 1.7 trillion US dollars in federal expenditure, vaccine recommendations and food safety in addition to medical insurance programs for Rau of the country .

Almost all Republicans found themselves regardless of the hesitation of Kennedy views on vaccines behind Trump and voted 52-48 to extend the sprout of one of the hired political and democratic families of America to the secretary of the health and human service. Democrats were unanimous against Kennedy.

The Senator of Kentucky, Mitch McConnell, who had as a toddler Polio, was the one “no” amongst Republicans and reflected his stands against Trump's suggestions for the Pentagon boss and director of the National Secret Service.

“I am a survivor of the childhood policy. In my life I saw how vaccines save millions of human life from devastating diseases all over America and all over the world, ”said McConnell in a subsequent explanation. “I will not tolerate the revival of proven healing, and even millions of Americans who owe their survival and quality of life to scientific miracles.”

However, the remaining of the GOP has adopted Kennedy's vision with a suggestion for public health authorities to give attention to chronic diseases reminiscent of obesity.

“We have to get involved in making America well again,” said Senator Mike Crapo, R-Idaho and added that Kennedy will bring a “new perspective” to the office.

Kennedy, 71, whose name and families have brought him into the national highlight since childhood, has earned an enormous followers along with his populist and sometimes extreme have a look at food, chemicals and vaccines.

His audience only grew in the course of the Covid 19 pandemic, when Kennedy devoted a big a part of his time to a non-profit organization, sued vaccination and used social media campaigns to undermine trust in vaccines and the federal government authorities that promote them.

With Trump's support, Kennedy insisted that he was “uniquely positioned” to revive the trust in these public health authorities, which include the Food and Drug Administration, the centers for the control and prevention of illnesses and the national institutes of health.

Last week Senator Thom Tillis said Rn.C. Before he agreed to support Kennedy, a health care provider who headed the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, the Senate Health, Education, Employment, Labor and Pension Committee, needed to be the peace of mind that Kennedy doesn’t make any changes the present vaccine recommendations.

During the Senate's hearings, the Democrats tried to refuse Kennedy to refuse an extended -employed theory that causes vaccines. Some legislators also triggered alarms via Kennedy, which profit financially from the change within the vaccination guidelines or the weakening of the protection of the federal government against vaccines.

Last 12 months, Kennedy achieved greater than 850,000 US dollars from an agreement on the order of a law firm that sued the manufacturers of Gardasil, a human papillomavirus vaccine that protects against cervical cancer. When he was confirmed as a health secretary, he promised to remove the fees for his son raised by the agreement.

Kennedy will take over the agency in the course of an enormous shock of the federal government, led by billionaire Elon Musk, who – albeit temporarily – has closed billions of taxpayers' dollars in public health financing, and 1000’s of federal staff leave their work unsafe.

On Friday, the NIH announced that medical research is utilized in billions of dollars at universities and cancer to develop treatments for diseases reminiscent of cancer and Alzheimer's.

Kennedy also called for a personnel overhaul at NIH, FDA and CDC. Last 12 months he promised to alleviate 600 employees on the NIH, the biggest biomedical research within the country.

Originally published: February 13, 2025 at 9:42 a.m. PST

policy

Washington (AP) -The Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary of President Donald Trump on Thursday and provided the outstanding vaccine skeptic of 1.7 trillion US dollars in federal expenditure, vaccine recommendations and food safety in addition to medical insurance programs for Rau of the country .

Despite the hesitation of Kennedy views, the Republicans went to vaccines behind Trump and voted 52-48 to extend the sprout of one of the crucial famous political and democratic and democratic families in America to the Department of Health and Human Services. The Senator of Kentucky, Mitch McConnell, who had as a toddler Polio, was the one “no” amongst Republicans and reflected his stands against Trump's suggestions for the Pentagon boss and director of the National Secret Service. All Democrats rejected Kennedy.

The GOP has largely assumed Kennedy's vision of “making healthy again” by instructing the general public health authorities to give attention to chronic diseases resembling obesity.

Kennedy, 71, whose name and families have brought him into the national highlight since childhood, has earned an enormous followers along with his populist and sometimes extreme take a look at food, chemicals and vaccines.

His audience only grew through the Covid 19 pandemic, when Kennedy devoted a big a part of his time to a non-profit organization, sued vaccination and used social media campaigns to undermine trust in vaccines and the federal government authorities that promote them.

With Trump's support, Kennedy insisted that he was “uniquely positioned” to revive the trust in these public health authorities, which include the Food and Drug Administration, the centers for the control and prevention of illnesses and the national institutes of health.

Last week Senator Thom Tillis said Rn.C. Before he agreed to support Kennedy, a physician who headed the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, the Senate Health, Education, Employment, Labor and Pension Committee, needed to be the reassurance that Kennedy doesn’t make any changes the present vaccine recommendations.

During the Senate's hearings, the Democrats tried to refuse Kennedy to refuse an extended -employed theory that causes vaccines. Some legislators also triggered alarms via Kennedy, which profit financially from the change within the vaccination guidelines or the weakening of the protection of the federal government against vaccines.

Last 12 months, Kennedy achieved greater than 850,000 US dollars from an agreement on the order of a law firm that sued the manufacturers of Gardasil, a human papillomavirus vaccine that protects against cervical cancer. When he was confirmed as a health secretary, he promised to remove the fees for his son raised by the agreement.

Kennedy will take over the agency in the course of an enormous shock of the federal government, led by billionaire Elon Musk, who – albeit temporarily – has closed billions of taxpayers' dollars in public health financing, and 1000’s of federal employees leave their work unsafe.

On Friday, the NIH announced that medical research is utilized in billions of dollars at universities and cancer to develop treatments for diseases resembling cancer and Alzheimer's.

Kennedy also called for a personnel overhaul at NIH, FDA and CDC. Last 12 months he promised to alleviate 600 employees on the NIH, the biggest biomedical research within the country.

Kennedy defends the vaccination stat

Kennedy's postponement of abortion attitude

Kennedy fights to reply Medicare, Medicaid questions

policy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just hours before the midnight government shutdown, the House late Friday approved a brand new plan from Speaker Mike Johnson that will temporarily fund federal operations and disaster relief but dropped President-elect Donald Trump's calls to lift the debt limit latest 12 months.

Johnson insisted that Congress would “fulfill our obligations” and never allow federal operations to shut down before the Christmas holidays. But the day's consequence was uncertain after Trump once more insisted that any deal would come with a debt ceiling increase – if not, he said in an early morning post, the shutdowns should “start now.”

The bill passed by a vote of 366-34 and now heads to the Senate for expected quick passage.

“We are pleased with this result,” Johnson said afterwards, adding that he had spoken to Trump and that the president-elect “was certainly pleased with this result as well.”

It was the third attempt by Johnson, the embattled speaker of the House of Representatives, to satisfy one in all the federal government's basic demands – to maintain it open. And it raised serious questions on whether Johnson can keep his job within the face of disgruntled GOP colleagues and work with Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk, who made the legislative decisions this time.

Trump's last-minute demand was nearly unattainable, and Johnson had almost no alternative but to sidestep his push for a debt ceiling increase. The speaker knew there wouldn't be enough support throughout the GOP majority to pass a funding package, as many Republicans favor cutting the federal government and definitely wouldn't allow more debt.

Instead, Republicans, who could have full control of the White House, House and Senate next 12 months and have big plans for tax cuts and other priorities, are showing that they routinely should depend on Democrats to get the votes they need. to maintain up with the routine operations of governing.

“So is this a Republican bill or a Democratic bill?” Musk teased on social media before the vote.

The latest 118-page package would fund the federal government at current levels through March and add $100 billion in disaster relief and $10 billion in agricultural aid for farmers.

Gone is Trump's demand to lift the debt ceiling, which GOP leaders would advise lawmakers on as a part of their tax and border packages in the brand new 12 months. Republicans reached a so-called handshake agreement to lift the debt limit while cutting spending by $2.5 trillion over 10 years.

It's essentially the identical deal that collapsed the night before in a spectacular setback – opposed by most Democrats and a few of the most conservative Republicans – minus Trump's demand for a debt ceiling.

Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has been in contact with Johnson, but Democrats reacted coolly to the newest motion after the Republican speaker abandoned their original bipartisan compromise.

“Welcome back to the MAGA swamp,” Jeffries wrote.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the highest Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said it looked like Musk, an unelected official and the richest man on this planet, was calling the shots for Trump and Republicans.

“Who’s in charge?” she asked in the course of the debate.

Still, the White House supported the ultimate bill and Democrats solid more votes than Republicans for its passage. Nearly three dozen Republicans voted against it.

Trump, who has not yet been sworn into office, is showing the facility but in addition the bounds of his influence over Congress by intervening and orchestrating affairs from Mar-a-Lago, together with Musk, who heads the brand new administration's latest ministry leads government efficiency.

“If there is going to be a government shutdown, let it begin now,” Trump posted on social media early this morning.

Trump just isn’t afraid of presidency shutdowns, just as Johnson and lawmakers view federal shutdowns as political losers that hurt Americans' livelihoods. The latest Trump administration is promising to chop the federal budget and lay off 1000’s of employees. Trump himself triggered the longest government shutdown in history during his first term within the White House, the months-long shutdowns in the course of the Christmas holidays in 2018 and New Year's holidays in 2019.

More necessary to the president-elect was his demand to place the thorny debt ceiling debate off the table before returning to the White House. The federal debt limit expires on January 1, and Trump doesn’t want the primary months of his latest administration to be burdened with tough negotiations in Congress to extend the country's borrowing capability. It gives leverage to Democrats, who shall be within the minority next 12 months.

“Congress must abolish the ridiculous debt ceiling, or perhaps extend it through 2029,” Trump wrote, increasing his call for a five-year increase within the debt limit. “Without this, we should never make a deal.”

Johnson initially tried to appease Trump's demands, but ultimately needed to sidestep them.

Trump and Musk unleashed their opposition – and their social media army – against the unique plan presented by Johnson. It was a 1,500-page bipartisan compromise he reached with Democrats that included disaster relief for hardest-hit states but didn’t address the debt ceiling situation.

A Trump-backed second plan, Thursday's slimmed-down 116-page bill with its preferred two-year debt limit increase through 2027, failed in monumental defeat and was rejected as a frivolous attempt by most Democrats – but in addition by conservative Republicans who refuse to pile on the nation's red ink.

On Friday morning, Vice President-elect JD Vance and Trump's latest director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, arrived on the Capitol, where a bunch of objectors from the hardline House Freedom Caucus met with Johnson.

Later, in the course of the House Republicans' lunchtime session within the basement of the Capitol, Johnson asked for a show of hands to chart a path forward, Republican Rep. Ralph Norman said.

Government staff have already been told to organize for a federal shutdown that will send tens of millions of employees — and military personnel — into the vacation season and not using a paycheck.

President Joe Biden played a less public role in the controversy in the ultimate weeks of his term, drawing criticism from Trump and Republicans who sought to shift blame for an eventual shutdown onto him.

Biden has held talks with Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, but White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: “The Republicans blew up this deal.” They did, and so they have to fix the issue .”

At one point, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell intervened to remind his colleagues “how damaging it is to shut down the government and how foolish it is to bet that your own side won’t take the blame.” becomes.”

The speaker's election is the primary vote of the brand new Congress, which convenes on January 3, and Johnson will need the support of nearly each House Republican in his razor-thin majority to make sure he can keep the gavel.

Since some have mentioned Musk as a speaker, Johnson said he also spoke to him. He said they discussed the “extraordinary challenges of this job.”

As the speaker in Washington twisted, his danger became clear. At Turning Point USA's conservative AmericaFest conference late Thursday, Trump ally Steve Bannon stirred 1000’s of activists with a crushing defeat by the Louisiana Republican.

“Obviously Johnson is not up to the task. He has to go,” Bannon said, drawing cheers.

___

policy

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — With Mitt Romney set to retire from the U.S. Senate, Washington might be without one in all its harshest conservative critics of Donald Trump when the president retakes the White House in the brand new yr.

At a final news conference Friday in Salt Lake City, the outgoing senator reflected on his two-decade political profession, which included the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, a term as governor of Massachusetts and several other clashes with Trump loyalists in Congress.

In what can have been his final swipe at Trump, Romney reiterated his concerns concerning the recent president's character and his “relaxed relationship with the truth.” He said he hopes his own legacy might be that he stayed true to his values.

Romney, 77, decided to not run for re-election this yr after representing Utah within the Senate since 2019. He said he has reached the top of his profession as an elected official and needs to concentrate on bringing more young people into politics after he leaves office in January.

Romney, once the standard-bearer of the Republican Party, watched his brand of moderate conservatism morph from establishment to outlier as Trump swept the party.

“I'm just a small part of what we used to call the mainstream Republicans, if you will,” Romney told reporters Friday. “The stream has become a little smaller. It's more like the Main Creek Republicans. At some point it will be under the sand and we will have to dig it out.”

He became the voice of Congress's centrist core, leading negotiations on the bipartisan $550 billion infrastructure bill – one in all the Biden administration's crowning achievements – and a significant COVID-19 relief package.

Political observers fear his departure could create a vacuum of strong centrist voices that may keep bipartisanship alive at a time of accelerating polarization in Washington.

Under Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress, bipartisanship could well be dormant, Romney said. But he doesn't think moderates should hand over hope that the GOP could reverse its rightward shift.

“There's kind of a divide between Republican voters and Republican politics that could provide an opportunity for some kind of realignment,” he said, noting that the party now includes many working-class voters but tends to oppose the minimum wage Raises and pro-union policies.

Romney's successor within the Senate might be Republican U.S. Rep. John Curtis, who has developed a fame for pushing back against party leaders like Trump who falsely claim that climate change is a hoax. Eyes might be on Curtis and other moderate Republicans who could break with the party within the votes to substantiate Trump's Cabinet picks.

In 2020, Romney became the primary senator in U.S. history to vote to convict a president of his own party in an impeachment trial. He was the one Republican in Congress to vote to convict Trump in each impeachment trials. Trump was acquitted by the Senate each times.

Earlier this yr, Romney pledged to not vote for Trump but declined to affix another senior Republicans in supporting Democrat Kamala Harris, saying he desired to preserve his future ability to assist transform the Republican Party .

policy

More than 75 Nobel Prize winners have done it signed a letter Calls on senators not to verify President-elect Donald Trump's selection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to go the Department of Health and Human Services.

According to Richard Roberts, the 1993 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine who helped draft the letter, the letter, obtained by The New York Times, marks the primary time in recent memory that Nobel Prize winners have united against a Cabinet decision have. The group tries to remain out of politics each time possible, he said.

But the confirmation of Kennedy, a staunch critic of conventional medicine who was hostile to the scientists and agencies he would oversee, was a threat that the Nobel laureates couldn’t ignore, Roberts said.

“These political attacks on science are very damaging,” he said. “You have to stand up and protect it.”

The honorees questioned whether Kennedy, who they said had “lack of qualifications” in medicine, science and administration, was suitable to steer the department answerable for protecting public health and funding biomedical research.

“Mr. Putting Kennedy in charge of DHHS would endanger public health and undermine America’s global leadership in the health sciences,” the letter warned.

If confirmed, Kennedy's opposition to established public health tools comparable to vaccines and drinking water fluoridation would pose a risk to the country's well-being, the letter said.

The laureates condemned Kennedy's sponsorship Conspiracy theories. Kennedy has falsely linked vaccinations to autism, rejected established science showing that HIV causes AIDS, and suggested, without evidencethat the coronavirus has targeted and spared certain ethnic groups.

The honorees also noted that Kennedy was a “belligerent critic” of the agencies under his purview, including the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.

Kennedy threatened to fireplace employees of the FDA, which he says has waged and promised a “war on public health.” Replace a whole lot of NIH employees the day after Trump's inauguration.

More broadly, he said vaccine researchers “should be in jail and the key should be thrown away.” in accordance with NBC News.

“The head of DHHS should continue to promote and improve – not threaten – these important and highly respected institutions and their employees,” the letter said.

In an announcement Monday evening, a spokesman for the Trump transition team said: “Americans are tired of elites telling them what to do and how to do it.” Our health care system on this country is broken. Mr. Kennedy will implement President Trump’s agenda to revive the integrity of our health care system and make America healthy again.”

77 award winners – from medicine, chemistry, business and physics – signed the letter. They included Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine this 12 months for the invention of microRNA, and Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson, who won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his or her research on global inequality.

Dr. Harold Varmus, a 1989 Nobel laureate who signed the letter, said scientific research – which is determined by federal funding and contributes to the country's economic growth – can’t be divorced from the political climate.

“Science depends on the political structures of this country, he said. “I don’t think we should bury our heads in the sand just because we are scientists.”

For most of the signatories, that is the second political campaign they’ve participated on this 12 months. Dozens of Nobel laureates signed an open letter in October endorsing Kamala Harris for president.

Roberts hoped that this letter would achieve success. Even if the letter influenced a small variety of senators, it may very well be enough to dam Kennedy's nomination.

“Maybe there are some who read this and think, well, we really want to protect the health of our citizens,” he said. “They didn’t elect us so we could kill them.”