Sen. Susan Collins says she will support Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the next U.S. health secretary.
Collins told CNN Chief Correspondent Manu Raju that she plans to vote for him and that he will re-examine the cuts made by the White House to the National Institutes of Health.
Raju posted on X that Collins told him RFK Jr. also “seemed to understand the concerns” she raised about the more “very important biomedical research and clinical trials.”
Those cuts could include research at Maine universities and other research facilities.
In a release Monday, Collins said in part:
“I oppose the poorly conceived directive imposing an arbitrary cap on the indirect costs that are part of NIH grants and negotiated between the grant recipient and NIH. I have heard from the Jackson Laboratory, the University of Maine, Maine Medical Center Research Institute, the University of New England, and MDI Biological Laboratory, among others, that these cuts, which in some cases would apply retroactively to existing grants, would be devastating, stopping vital biomedical research and leading to the loss of jobs.
“This morning, I called Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, to express my strong opposition to these arbitrary cuts in funding for vital research at our Maine institutions, which are known for their excellence. He has promised that as soon as he is confirmed, he will re-examine this initiative that was implemented prior to his confirmation.”
Collins is one of three Republican senators who previously could have potentially voted against confirming RFK Jr. in the senate-wide vote to appoint him as Health and Human Services secretary.
WABI reported last month that a group of Maine physicians is calling on Collins to reject RFK Jr. as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Committee to Protect Health care hosted a virtual session where three physicians voiced concerns about RFK Jr’s qualifications for the job.
One physician says RFK Jr’s viewpoints on vaccines should alarm Americans as well as the fact that he has no experience in the healthcare field.
The vote is expected this week.
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