I watched almost three hours of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearing this morning before the Senate Finance Committee and I’d like to single out Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) for special recognition. They held Kennedy’s feet to the fire and showed everyone what a fraud he is. He is in no way qualified to be the head of HHS; quite the opposite.
I was almost cheering. Sen. Warren is originally from Oklahoma, as am I, and I’ve long been a big fan of hers. Sen. Bennet is one of my current senators and a former superintendent of Denver Public Schools, where my son works. He’s normally pretty soft spoken, if he speaks at all, and he’s certainly no orator. But today his inner attack dog got loose and I loved every minute of it.
Thank you, Senators Warren and Bennet. You set the bar high, asked the questions and demanded the answers that all of your colleagues should have asked and in the tone they should have adopted.
Kennedy’s Senate Confirmation hearing continues tomorrow before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and the vote on his confirmation is expected next week.
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Header image: Sen. Bennet questions Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
I wasn’t able to watch, but this evening read a letter Caroline Kennedy-Schlossberg wrote to 4 Senators on the committee saying do not confirm him. It was on one of the “also to read” tabs in the NYTimes today. Hope you saw it as well.
(i did not realize she is a grandmother already!)
I’ll look for it in a sec. Did you see the video she submitted to the committee? Talking about how nutty Kennedy is? It was brutal.
I missed the first hour but watched the rest and I loved that nothing was held back by the dems (some stronger than others), and he seemed flummoxed, confused, and uniformed, all while lying his way through. he has another one today with another committee and gabbard and Patel begin. two more horrible choices
Watching Patel right now. Was beginning to think maybe Kennedy wasn’t going to be on today after all. (Thanks for the info.) I think he appeared flummoxed and confused because he didn’t have any good defenses for his crazy, inexplicable behavior and stances.
Just tuned in to Patel
Right on for both senators. I especially like Bennett’s demeanor. He was my pick when he ran for president in 2020. I guess he was too thoughtful and deliberate for the body politic, the very reasons I like him.
I like him a lot and he’s very smart. Perhaps it works to his advantage to not be a fierce orator. He can take some opponents by surprise. In any case, discount him at your peril.
A local reporter just dubbed him the Colorado Cicada because he stays quiet for seven years at a time, then emerges to make a lot of noise.
It is absolutely incomprehensible that he is even being considered for this position; a person who has pushed anti-science rhetoric for financial gain, a person who has obvious conflict of interest, a person who is a recovering drug addict, a person who exhibits lack of understanding of basic scientific process… I am just furious about the halt on medical research that was suddenly enacted “until RFK, Jr. is confirmed” in an obvious extortion scheme by the administration to push him through confirmation in spite of his many disqualifying factors. I am one of the people who may be affected by all of this as the lung drug that I am waiting on is in fast-track status and approval should be coming this year.
I wanted to cheer when I saw how Senator Bennett pressed him! Yay for truth and honesty!! I was also pleased by how Elizabeth Warren didn’t mince words and asked good questions, but for Michael Bennet to rip off the gloves and go for him was really illuminating: this is an emergency, and Senator Bennett clearly understands the gravity of this appointment.
We live in Colorado. One of the things that I learned from the Columbine shooting was how important it is to recognize, acknowledge, and then respond to emergencies when they happen. People tend to freeze or refuse to recognize immediate threats in the moment; Michael Bennett appears to have also internalized that lesson.
More than ever, with Trump in charge, I’m glad I live in Colorado. But anybody with a stake in US healthcare — and that would be everyone — is at risk if Kennedy heads HHS. It’s unthinkable that, with his lengthy track record of anti-science, anti-vaccine positions, could be head of HHS. Only someone like Trump would have nominated him. But of course he fits right in to Trump’s plans, spelled out in Project 2025, to dismantle the current US government. Your health and future, as with so many others, depends on Kennedy’s defeat. (He’s such an obvious nut job, it’s hard to imagine even Republicans would support him. But then, they are probably afraid to buck Trump.)
I’m going to write to our senators again before they vote next week.
Yes: this is tRump destroying the Government. That’s all it is. He has set out to bring down the shape of things, and as far as I can see he’s succeeding.
He’s doing what Project 2025 laid out for him. And yes, that involves basically destroying/replacing our current government with a fascist oligarchy or similar.
I didn’t see Sen. Warren but I did see Bennet grill both Kennedy and Tulsi Gabbard. We need more courageous people like him to stand up against lying. I just wrote Bennet a letter thanking him.
I’m currently composing the same thing, along with a plea to vote against Kennedy next week.
I wrote another letter today to Senator Bennet thanking him for his intense questioning of Trump’s nominees and urging him to vote accordingly this week, along with Sen. Hickenlooper, while lobbying all their colleagues to do the same.
I found a video of his grilling of Tulsi Gabbard. He’s getting rather well known for his intense questioning of some really awful nominees. His Kennedy video is showing up all over the place. His stock in Washington is rising. Or will when the orange one is gone.
Did you see where local news anchor Kyle Clark dubbed him the Colorado Cicada? He stays quiet and out of sight for years, then pops up and makes a whole lot of noise.