Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Monday she intends to vote to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of Health and Human Services, a boost to one of President Donald Trump's most contentious Cabinet nominees.
Even though the GOP has a three-seat majority in the upper chamber, Collins' position is seen as crucial in case any other Republicans balk against confirming Kennedy. Collins, along with Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky voted against confirming Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who needed Vice President J.D. Vance to cast the deciding vote in his favor.
In a post Monday on X, CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju wrote that he talked to Collins and, "She said that Kennedy told her that he would 're-examine' the WH's [White House's] NIH [National Institutes of Health] cuts and he 'seemed to understand the concerns that I was raising about what it would be more very important biomedical research and clinical trials.'"
Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has opposed a "poorly conceived directive" from President Donald Trump for the NIH to cut support for medical and public health research at universities nationwide, ABC News reported Monday.
Collins, a moderate who has joined a number of national Democrat leaders decrying Trump's move at the NIH, said she reached out to Kennedy to express her "strong opposition to these arbitrary cuts in funding," according to ABC News. Collins said Kennedy "promised" that as soon as he was confirmed he would "reexamine this initiative" that he said was "implemented prior to his confirmation."
The Senate Finance Committee on Feb. 4 voted 14-13 along party lines to advance Kennedy's nomination to a full Senate vote, which is expected to take place sometime this week.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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