Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., announced that he will vote against confirming Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to serve in President Donald Trump’s cabinet.
Trump tapped Kennedy to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, and Gabbard to serve as Director of National Intelligence.
‘I have met with most of the cabinet nominees and have carefully watched their confirmation hearings. After considering what’s at stake, I have voted against moving forward to the confirmation of Ms. Gabbard and Mr. Kennedy, and will be voting NO on their confirmations,’ Fetterman declared Thursday night in a post on X.
Kennedy announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2023, before switching to an independent White House bid later that year. In 2024 he dropped out and endorsed Trump.
Kennedy’s former running mate, Nicole Shanahan, replied to Fetterman’s post, calling the lawmaker — who is known for his penchant for wearing shorts and hoodies — a ‘lazy slob.’
‘Fetterman toys with the ideal of being a strong American Man, but he is a lazy slob who can’t get to the gym in spite of wearing gym clothes all day long. I do not expect someone who can’t manage to dress themself to make good decisions, let alone those as important as the health of a nation,’ Shanahan declared in a tweet.
‘I’m not trolling. This is an honest assessment given the outfit he wore to the President of the United State’s Inauguration. What can you realistically expect from someone who treats the American people like this?’ she added in another post.
Gabbard, who served in Congress as a Democrat from early 2013 through early 2021, launched a presidential bid in 2019, but dropped out in 2020 and backed Joe Biden.
In 2022, she announced that she was ditching the Democratic Party. And in 2024, she endorsed Trump and announced that she was joining the GOP.
While Fetterman has thrown his support behind some of Trump’s nominees, he joined the rest of the Senate Democratic Caucus in voting against the confirmation of Russell Vought on Thursday. Despite Democratic opposition, Vought was confirmed in a 53-47 vote.
Vought served as Office of Management and Budget director during part of the first Trump administration and is taking on the role again.
‘Last year, I called out the dangers of Project 2025 and the damage it’d do to our country. Americans were assured the Trump team had no ties to it—then nominated one of its authors to lead OMB. My view has not changed and I will be a hard NO on Mr. Vought,’ Fetterman said in a post on Thursday.