Got the Votes: RFK Jr., Kash Patel, and Tulsi Gabbard in Good Shape

From the outside, it appears that the nominations of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, and Kash Patel are all headed to full Senate confirmation in the coming days.

Among the group, Patel seemed the most likely to sail through and that’s still expected. The Senate simply moves at a snail’s pace on basically everything so it takes days between each confirmation vote once the nominees are successfully voted out of committee.

For Kennedy, Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana was a big GOP holdout but things turned around over the weekend. On Tuesday, Cassidy voted in favor of Kennedy out of committee and then took to the Senate floor to explain his support:

That’s all good, but it feels like Cassidy and some of his colleagues are trying to approve Kennedy with handcuffs. The Senate is to advise and consent on nominees, not control and shackle them for various agencies. Cassidy should chill out a bit and remember that RFK will be working at the pleasure of President Trump. If Kennedy is a problem, Trump will fire him, no doubt about it. The notion that Senators are extracting promises from nominees concerning how they will run various agencies is an overstep of Congressional authority.

The American people voted for Trump to put Kennedy in a position to attack the health industrial complex from the inside out. He should not be confined in what he can do and where he can investigate because one senator has an issue over vaccines.

Nonetheless, Kennedy looks like he’ll have the necessary support to be confirmed. As for whether it’s 53 Republicans or 50, he’ll likely get through one way or another.

Tulsi Gabbard received some good news this week in her quest to serve as Director of National Intelligence. A few of her biggest GOP holdouts changed their tune recently with Sen. Susan Collins and Sen. Todd Young giving Gabbard their full support:

Young, the other holdout, says he received assurances from Gabbard that satisfy his concerns:

Similar to RFK, these Senators sound like they’re putting up guard rails and handcuffs on Gabbard before she even gets the job. The move is unnecessary and insulting on many levels. The American people put Trump in charge with a general idea of his cabinet. They voted for change agents like Tulsi Gabbard to be involved.

Here’s Charlie Kirk with Sen. Tommy Tuberville discussing all these conformations and predicting a positive outcome for Trump’s nominees:

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Nate Ashworth

The Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Election Central. He's been blogging elections and politics for over a decade. He started covering the 2008 Presidential Election which turned into a full-time political blog in 2012 and 2016 that continues today.

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