U.S. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, made no promises in a Sunday TV interview that despite contentious hearings, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be confirmed as secretary of Health and Human Services.
The Senate Finance Committee is set to vote Tuesday on whether to send Kennedy’s nomination to the full Senate. Appearing on the Fox News program “Sunday Morning Futures,” the Senate’s second-ranking Republican was asked point-blank whether RFK Jr. “has the votes.”
“Well, we’re working very hard to make sure that that happens on Tuesday,” Barrasso told host Maria Bartiromo.
Barrasso then pivoted into a celebratory rundown of President Donald Trump’s successes so far, including the confirmations of eight of his Cabinet choices.
Barrasso, a member of the Finance panel, has said he will vote for RFK Jr. on Tuesday. Barrasso is not a member of a second committee — Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) — which also has a vote upcoming on the nominee.
Razor-Thin GOP Edge
Senate HELP Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, has said he is “struggling” with how to vote. Cassidy is a doctor who has expressed misgivings about Kennedy’s skepticism of vaccines. Barrasso is a doctor as well.
Republicans, as the majority party in the Senate, hold a one-member edge over Democrats on each of the two committees. Democrats on both panels are expected to vote overwhelmingly — possibly unanimously — against the nominee.
But Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, is publicly non-committal. He is a crucial voice, because he is the only senator who sits on both the Finance and HELP panels, thereby getting two votes at the committee level.
In hearings, Sanders was often critical of the nominee but also said he supports Kennedy’s holistic approach to health. Appearing on the CBS News program “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Sanders would not say how he will vote.
“I’ll vote when I’ll vote,” he said, adding that he still has “deep concerns.”
Sen. Cyntha Lummis, R-Wyoming, does not sit on either the Finance or HELP panel but has pledged her support for Kennedy in the full Senate if the nomination advances.
Barrasso said Sunday the grilling of RFK by Democrats has been aggressive and partisan.
“You can hear the hostility in the voices of the Democrats who are asking him questions, calling him a traitor,” he said.
Barrasso said that as a medical doctor himself, he supports Kennedy as “the right person” for the post.
‘Speed and Urgency’
As part of his response to Bartiromo’s question about RFK Jr.’s chances, Barrasso broadened the discussion, declaring that “just two weeks into the Trump administration … Washington does not know what hit it.”
“The president has moved with such speed and urgency I think that these first two weeks have been so consequential, probably more consequential than the first two weeks for any president in my lifetime,” the senator said.
It’s a remarkable thing to watch as Trump and his new administration moves at breakneck speed implementing the promises he made on the campaign trail, Barrasso said.
“Look, he’s already signed hundreds of executive orders,” he said. “He’s made sure that we’ve removed from this country thousands of illegal immigrant criminals, and we have been able to confirm many more nominees to his Cabinet, twice as many as Biden did by this time four years ago.”
He also cited the Laken Riley Act, an illegal immigration enforcement bill Trump signed into law.
Other Votes, Trade War
Other high-profile confirmation votes by committees this week include the nominations of Pam Bondi for attorney general, Kash Patel to lead the FBI and Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence.
The Senate Intelligence Committee is expected to vote Tuesday on Gabbard. Confirmation is widely seen as uncertain.
Barrasso and Lummis have stated their support for Gabbard. Neither of the Wyoming senators serves on the Intelligence Committee.
In Sunday’s interview, Barrasso was not asked about Gabbard.
Changing topics, Bartiromo asked the senator about Trump’s threatened tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. Barrasso said he’s not worried the measures would turn out to be counterproductive.
But he did note Canada is Wyoming’s largest export market and said it is likely Canada would retaliate.
“People are clearly looking at that,” he said. “We’re keeping a close eye on it.”
Monday afternoon, the tariffs on Canadian and Chinese goods were still set to take effect Tuesday, but Trump agreed to hold off on Mexican imports after he secured a pledge that Mexican authorities would do more to fight drug trafficking at the U.S. border.
