:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/adn/WHRJRSAWUBUSBHVMN7VOOQHOZ4.jpg?ssl=1 "Health care group targets Alaska Sen. Murkowski in effort to block RFK Jr. from becoming U.S. health secretary")
A national health care advocacy group has started campaigning in Alaska to urge U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski to block Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from leading the Department of Health and Human Services.
Politico reported last month that Protect Our Care — a left-leaning health care group — was planning to target moderate Republican senators to vote against President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for the key health care post. The group kicked off its Alaska campaign last week.
Murkowski has largely been silent on Kennedy, but she expressed some concern about him to Alaska media shortly after the election in connection to federal immunization programs.
Republicans are set to have a 53-seat majority in the U.S. Senate, meaning four Republicans would need to join all Democrats and independents to block a confirmation vote.
The federal health secretary oversees key agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
In Alaska, the health secretary also oversees the Indian Health Service, which provides care for Alaska Natives who are members of federally recognized tribes. The secretary also runs the vaccines for children program — providing free immunizations for low-income children and Alaska Native families.
Kennedy has threatened a “war on public health” and has long been an anti-vaccine activist and an opponent of fluoride in drinking water.
Last week, Protect Our Care Alaska held a media conference to launch a campaign to convince Murkowski and U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan about the risks to the state’s health care system if Kennedy is confirmed.
“RFK Jr. is a dangerous conspiracy theorist whose dangerous anti-vaccine rhetoric poses a great threat to public health,” said Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, D-Anchorage.
Gray-Jackson cited Kennedy’s past statements that the COVID-19 vaccine was racially targeted and that school shootings are attributable to antidepressants.
Joelle Hall, president of the Alaska AFL-CIO, went further, suggesting a Trump-aligned Congress was a threat to the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare), Medicare and Medicaid. She said Kennedy could oversee those programs being weakened.
Trump is set to be inaugurated Jan. 20, triggering the start of confirmation hearings for his cabinet posts.
Amber Lee, statewide director of Protect Our Care Alaska, said the Alaska campaign was made up of a few volunteers but that it would ramp up into January. Lee said the group assumed Sullivan would vote to confirm Kennedy’s nomination but that Murkowski could potentially be convinced to vote no.
After the Nov. 5 election, Murkowski spoke to Alaska news media. She was asked about Kennedy taking a role in the Trump administration. Murkowski said immunizations have helped reduce some infectious diseases and eliminate others in Alaska. She cited the legendary 1925 serum to Nome.
“I don’t want us to be going backwards as a state when it comes to children’s health,” she said.
[Murkowski, a vocal Trump critic, vows to work with him to advance Alaska interests]
However, Murkowski has largely been silent on Kennedy’s nomination since he was tapped by Trump to serve as health secretary Nov. 14.
“As she has done throughout her time in the Senate, she will determine on a case-by-case basis whether they are the right fit to successfully serve Alaska and our nation,” a Murkowski spokesperson said Friday in response to emailed questions about Kennedy’s confirmation vote.
A spokesperson for Sullivan’s office issued a similar statement last week and said Sullivan would meet with Kennedy to ensure he “understands Alaska’s unique health care challenges.”
On Nov. 14 Sullivan was asked by a Fox News host about Kennedy’s nomination to Trump’s cabinet as a member of the iconic Democratic Kennedy family.
“I think the American people voted for dramatic change, and President Trump was really transparent — probably the most transparent candidate ever on the campaign trail — talking about what he wanted to do,” Sullivan said. “And I think this nominee, some other other nominees, are going to bring us that change. And I think so far, I think it looks good.”
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