Dem
47
GOP
53
Robert Kennedy Jr. is not a sure thing to get confirmed as secretary of HHS. The bear thing aside, most Senate Republicans know very well that vaccinations are pretty safe and the older ones remember people in iron lungs before Jonas Salk engineered a vaccine against polio. They are going to have to weigh their allegiance to Donald Trump over the harm that Kennedy could do to their constituents. It would take only four "no" votes among Republican senators to defeat Kennedy. Although Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is no longer in the leadership, he is still well respected within his caucus. And he knows all about polio: he had it as a child himself. The question now is whether it affected his spine as well as his legs.
But Kennedy has another problem. A watchdog group, Accountable.US, has filed a formal complaint with the New York State Board of Elections accusing Kennedy of voting fraud. Specifically, the complaint accuses him of registering to vote and then voting from a New York address, where he doesn't live and has never lived. That is a felony in New York State.
Kennedy voted by mail and gave his residence as a house in Katonah, in Westchester County. But Kennedy never lived in Katonah. He has lived in California for over 10 years. As evidence, the complaint points out in August a New York judge ruled that the form that Kennedy submitted to New York election authorities to get on the state ballot when he was a candidate listed the Katonah address, and that was false. In his defense, Kennedy said that he lived in a rented room in a house owned by a childhood friend who now lives in Katonah. But that friend's spouse testified that Kennedy visited and spent one night there, which does not qualify as residence under New York law.
This issue is sure to come up during Kennedy's confirmation hearing. Some Democratic senator is sure to ask: "Please explain how you were entitled to vote in New York, when a person who lives in the house you claimed to live in said you were there only 1 night last year." Even worse for Kennedy is that even if he is confirmed, NY AG Letitia James could pick up the ball and run with it. She could indict Kennedy for voter fraud and put him on trial. Because he violated New York State law, Donald Trump could not pardon him. It will be interesting to see if she takes action. (V)