President Trump’s pick as labor secretary faced pointed questions from both parties at her Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday over her past support for pro-union legislation, an issue that could complicate her nomination. The nominee, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a former Republican congresswoman, was pressed repeatedly about her stand on the PRO Act — a sweeping labor bill that sought to strengthen …
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Senate Confirms Howard Lutnick as Commerce Secretary
The Senate on Tuesday voted 51 to 45 to confirm Howard Lutnick to be President Trump’s commerce secretary, putting in place one of the administration’s top economic officials who will help oversee an agenda around tariffs and protectionism. Mr. Lutnick, who was the chief executive of the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, became a central economic adviser to Mr. Trump …
Read More »Kennedy Says He Will Give HPV Vaccine Lawsuit Proceeds to His Son
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told lawmakers in responses to questions released on Friday that he would divest his interest in litigation against a major HPV vaccine maker and would sign over the financial stake to an adult son. He also disclosed he had reached at least one settlement agreement with a company or individual that had accused him of “misconduct …
Read More »Kennedy Says He Will Give HPV Vaccine Lawsuit Proceeds to His Son
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told lawmakers in responses to questions released on Friday that he would divest his interest in litigation against a major HPV vaccine maker and would sign over the financial stake to an adult son. He also disclosed he had reached at least one settlement agreement with a company or individual that had accused him of “misconduct …
Read More »Is the HPV Vaccine Safe? Yes, Despite What R.F.K. Jr. Has Said.
Amid a tense line of questioning during the first day of confirmation hearings, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he would keep his financial stake in pending litigation centered on Gardasil, a vaccine meant to prevent cervical cancer, which can be caused by the human papillomavirus, or HPV. On Thursday, under questioning by Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, Mr. Kennedy …
Read More »RFK Jr. Appears Unfamiliar With Key Elements of Medicare and Medicaid
In a tense exchange with Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. displayed a surprising lack of familiarity with Medicare and Medicaid, the government programs responsible for covering more than 150 million Americans. At times, Mr. Kennedy seemed to confuse the two programs. Medicare is a federal program that provides coverage to older and disabled Americans, …
Read More »Hawaii Governor, a Doctor, Blames R.F.K. Jr. for Measles Deaths in Samoa
It was a spasm of tragedy on a remote Pacific island that only a few months later was overshadowed by a global pandemic. But to Gov. Josh Green of Hawaii, the measles outbreak on neighboring Samoa that killed 83 people, mostly babies and children, was a preventable catastrophe wrought by the man President Trump now wants to steer American health …
Read More »Caroline Kennedy Urges Senators to Reject RFK Jr. for Health Secretary
Caroline Kennedy wrote a letter to key senators on Tuesday, calling her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a “predator” who is addicted to the attention he gets from airing dangerous views on vaccinations. She called on lawmakers, who will be questioning Mr. Kennedy at his confirmation hearings to become the nation’s health secretary on Wednesday and Thursday, to reject his …
Read More »Choice for Energy Secretary Has Been an Evangelist for Fossil Fuels
Chris Wright, Donald J. Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Energy, landed the job during his first encounter with the past and future president. The founder and chief executive of Liberty Energy, a fracking services company based in Colorado, Mr. Wright was among about 20 oil and gas executives whom Mr. Trump gathered at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida …
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