Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), a swing vote on President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees, is a “lean yes” on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after his first hearing before the Senate.
Tillis previously expressed concerns about Kennedy, tapped to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, over his history of vaccine skepticism but conveyed satisfaction with the explanations offered by the Trump nominee before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday.
“I thought he was well prepared. He took a lot of heat in the committee,” Tillis told the Washington Examiner after a more than three-hour hearing. “He’s probably never been treated that way before. So, in terms of his constitution, I thought it was pretty solid.”
Kennedy is set to appear on Thursday before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions for a second day of questioning. He will only need to be advanced by the Finance Committee before receiving a full chamber vote.
Tillis was a holdout to confirm Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week but ultimately cast the deciding vote in favor, despite reportedly assuring Hegseth’s former sister-in-law that her damning eleventh-hour testimony could sway Republicans to reject his nomination.
Tillis is up for reelection in 2026 in the battleground state of North Carolina.
A member of the Senate Finance Committee, Tillis presented Kennedy with a friendlier line of questioning than his Democratic colleagues. He lamented that Kennedy, facing widespread opposition from Democrats, was likely to be a partisan confirmation based on “shirts and skins.”
Offering Kennedy an opportunity to counter his critics, Tillis inquired whether he was a “conspiracy theorist” or if he’s ever been found to be definitively wrong on any of his unorthodox or controversial public health views.
“That is a pejorative, senator, that’s applied to me, mainly to keep me from asking difficult questions of powerful interests,” Kennedy responded.
In another exchange, Tillis asked if Kennedy would undermine day-to-day scientific operations of HHS’s umbrella agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health, and Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, that created the COVID-19 vaccine under the Trump-era Project Warp Speed.
“Is it your intent to go in and do something that’s ever been done before?” Tillis said.
Kennedy answered that it was his intent to “empower scientists.”
“I want to make sure that science is unobstructed by vestiture economic interests,” he said.
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Tillis also stated a desire for Kennedy, if confirmed, to reform school lunch programs and improve Medicaid.
Kennedy stumbled at other times, including on questions from another swing-vote Republican, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), regarding the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
