Democrats grill top Kennedy ally nominated to be HHS no. 2

Watching Senate Democrats “grill” a nominee for HHS deputy because he’s a top Kennedy ally tells you plenty about how Washington works. They’re not just vetting a résumé. They’re sending a message: if you’ve spent time near Robert F. Kennedy Jr., you’re going to wear the scarlet letter in a hearing room, no matter what the job actually is. This was as much about punishing association as it was about qualifications.

We’re fine with tough questions. HHS touches everything from drug approvals to insurance rules to public health guidance. But the performance matters. When the questions are built to score a viral clip instead of find out how a nominee would run the second-largest health bureaucracy in the country, the public gets shortchanged. If Democrats have concerns, they should name the exact decisions they’d change, not just sneer at who the guy knows.

The country doesn’t need another round of sanctimony from the same people who spent years insisting every COVID policy was “settled science,” then quietly walked it back when it became inconvenient. The hearing should be about competence: how he’ll manage budgets, restore trust in agencies that have burned it, and keep the department focused on outcomes instead of ideology. Americans want an HHS that works, not one that lectures.

And yes, politics is in the room, always. But Democrats are making a habit of treating any nominee outside their approved circle as suspect by definition, especially anyone tied to the Trump-era coalition or its orbit. That’s not oversight. That’s gatekeeping. If this nominee has answers, let him give them, then vote up or down like adults. The rest is just theater, and we’ve had our fill.