Opposition to RFK Jr.’s HHS Perch Is Growing

For the first time in our tracking since November, more voters than not disapprove of Trump’s selection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

According to our latest survey, 43% of voters disapprove of Kennedy’s nomination, marking a high-point after weeks of relative stasis since he was tapped by the then-incoming president, while 42% approve, a tracking low.

The shift appears to have been driven by independent voters, 46% of whom now disapprove of his nomination, though there were upticks in recent weeks in negative views among Democrats and Republicans, too. To be sure, the bulk of voters in the president’s party (71%) approve of his nomination.

Amid long-shot Democratic-led efforts to topple Kennedy’s bid, only 3 in 10 voters said they’d heard “a lot” about his confirmation hearing — and fewer said the same of news that his cousin, former U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, released a letter and video accusing him of being a “predator."

Still, the uptick in negative views about Kenendy’s ascent ahead of his narrow Senate Finance Committee victory stands out nonetheless because of lesser voter opposition to Trump’s other controversial nominees: Tulsi Gabbard to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and Kash Patel to be FBI director.

Despite mild declines in support, more voters approve than disapprove of Trump’s selection of Gabbard (37% to 34%) and Patel (39% to 33%).

The bottom line

Given the political incentives facing most Republican senators, the figure that may be most important is the nominees’ standing among GOP voters: Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who chairs a Senate involved in Kennedy’s confirmation and has relatively weak backing among the GOP's electorate in his state, faces a primary should he run for re-election next year and opted to support Trump’s HHS nominee in committee despite apparent reservations over his posture on vaccines.

By the metric of support on the right, our surveys continue to suggest a heavier lift for most potential dissenters should they want to avoid re-election primaries next year.