Kennedy’s HHS Nomination Remains Relatively Popular as Pushback Begins to Mount

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Senate Democrats’ campaign to stop Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation as Department of Health and Human Services secretary has a powerful new ally in Scott Gottlieb, the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner who last week raised concerns about the vaccine skeptic’s potential threat to public health. 

But as Morning Consult’s weekly tracking data suggests, those opponents may find it difficult to turn public opinion against Kennedy, whose nomination by President-elect Donald Trump remains more popular than not among Americans. 

According to our latest survey, 44% of voters approve of Trump’s selection of Kennedy to lead the country’s health department while 39% disapprove — mirroring findings from our first survey conducted after the pick was announced. 

While Kennedy’s nomination isn’t especially popular, the public’s opinion about it looks comparatively well-defined: Just 17% of voters said they do not have opinions about his nomination, the smallest share among 25 Cabinet-level nominees that we tested. 

Kennedy’s nomination remains one of Trump’s most popular, just behind his pick to lead the State Department, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). But it’s also the most disliked, slightly outpacing the 38% who disapprove of Oz’s nomination and the 36% who disapprove of Trump’s elevation of billionaire Linda McMahon to lead the Department of Education. 

Beyond Trump’s well known health-related nominees, fewer voters have formed views about his controversial national security nominees — especially former Fox News weekend host Pete Hegseth, whom he’s tapped for the top job in the Pentagon. 

Even after repeated news stories about allegations of sexual misconduct against Hegseth, roughly a third of voters (32%) aren’t sure or have no opinions about his nomination, matching the share who said they disapprove. Another 36% of voters — including 62% of Republicans — approve of Trump’s selection of Hegseth, in line with our past three surveys.

The bottom line

The weaker views about Hegseth show there are far more minds to be moved among the electorate about him than they are about Kennedy. He’s a more famous man whose own controversial views — which are fueling major fears within the health care industry — may actually be helping to drive his support in some corners of the GOP electorate (70% of all Republican voters back his nomination).

When it comes to Trump, none of this is weighing on voters' perceptions of how he is handling his transition.

A majority of voters (53%) approve of how he’s handling his transition, including 1 in 5 Democrats, 9 in 10 Republicans and more independent voters than not (44%). Alongside the majority backing for his transition efforts, Trump’s net favorability rating, at 48% favorable and 47% unfavorable, is also in positive territory for the first time since May 2023.

This relative position of strength makes it even riskier for Republican senators who may be considering scuttling another nomination following Matt Gaetz’s short stint as attorney general nominee — unless damning details from forthcoming FBI background checks or salacious stories about individual nominees in confirmation hearings take hold of public opinion.