WASHINGTON — As much as he tried in his Senate confirmation hearings this week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could not outrun his prior statements — false or inaccurate claims about everything from vaccines to biology and Wi-Fi — and it may cost him votes.
RFK Jr. can afford to lose only three Republicans on his path to confirmation as Health and Human Services secretary, if he is opposed by every Democratic and independent senator. Three senators in particular could help determine his fate: Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska.), all of whom questioned him on Thursday.
The latter two didn’t reflect a clear position in their questioning, but mostly lobbed softball questions. Cassidy made clear that he was troubled by Kennedy’s history of comments on a link between vaccines and autism.
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