“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it,” Upton Sinclair once wrote. Perhaps this explains why so many Republican senators, during confirmation hearings earlier this year, eagerly swallowed the lies and distortions of President Trump’s nominees for Cabinet and other high-level posts. But only now are we seeing just how badly they were played for suckers by the likes of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Pete Hegseth, and others.
Perhaps no one proved more gullible than Susan Collins of Maine, who fancies herself a “problem solver who seeks common-sense solutions.” In a hearing in late January, she pressed Kennedy, whom Trump had nominated to run Health and Human Services, about whether he’d limit access to vaccines or impede research at the National Institutes of Health. Collins reminded RFK of his quote boasting that he would “give infectious disease a break for about eight years,” and expressed concern that we could lose herd immunity among children if parents are discouraged from getting them vaccinated.
“We need good science, and I’m going to bring that in,” Kennedy said. “I’m going to restore trust, and that will restore vaccine uptake.”
OK, next question: Collins asked whether he’d impede research into a potential vaccine for Lyme disease, considering that he’d previously promoted a conspiracy theory that the disease was created as a bioweapon.
“There’s nobody who will fight harder to find a vaccine or a treatment for Lyme disease than me,” Kennedy said.
“I very much appreciate that assurance,” Collins replied.
Apparently comforted by Kennedy’s responses, Collins later voted to confirm him as HHS secretary. Yet since that time, he has, rather predictably, severely restricted access to the Covid-19 vaccine; canceled $500 million in vaccine research, including nixing vital mRNA research, some of which would have gone toward a potential Lyme disease cure; fired everyone on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices; and got Trump to oust Susan Monarez, the recently confirmed director of the CDC, because she refused to fire senior CDC leadership and rubber-stamp Kennedy’s plans to restrict vaccine access.
Collins’s response to all of this has been the typical Republican deflection. In a statement last week, she said she was “alarmed” that Monarez had been fired so soon and suggested that there be congressional oversight. But she also told the Maine Morning Star that she doesn’t expect to agree with any appointee’s positions all of the time, adding, “I do believe that he has some valid points about ultra-processed foods.”
This follows a familiar pattern we’ve seen from Republican senators.
1. Question a controversial nominee about their past statements and actions.
2. Solicit reassurances that provide cover to vote for the nominee’s confirmation.
3. Act surprised when the confirmed official does exactly what everyone feared.
4. Give the press a tepid quote in response—or say nothing at all.
Collins wasn’t alone when it came to swallowing RFK’s lies. The future secretary promised Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin that there would be “radical transparency” at HHS, then oversaw the firing of workers charged with conveying information to the public and closed down the FOIA offices of individual agencies like the CDC and Food and Drug Administration.
Kennedy promised Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming that he would work to keep rural hospitals open and funded, yet he defended Trump’s big budget law, which amounts to an estimated $58 billion to $137 billion in cuts for those hospitals. Overall, the law cut about $1 trillion from our health care system, most of which comes from Medicaid services that many in rural areas depend upon.
Bill Cassidy of Louisiana was another RFK dupe. Like Collins, he based his confirmation vote largely on Kennedy’s promise that he would not hamper vaccine distribution or research. Following Kennedy’s dismissal of the vaccine panel and the firing of Monarez, Cassidy has done nothing but merely suggest that there be oversight by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. I contacted his office for comment on Kennedy’s actions and whether Cassidy intends to take any further actions, but received no reply.
Kennedy is only the most prominent example of a nominee who pulled the wool over Republicans’ eyes.
Pete Hegseth, then the nominee for defense secretary, promised Joni Ernst he would make the conducting and passing of an audit at the Pentagon a major priority. Yet, since his confirmation, he’s simply promised to pass one by the end of the Trump administration; no different, really, from what was already anticipated under the Biden administration. Hegseth also promised during his confirmation hearings to allow more women in combat roles and not hamper female advancement, but his new standards for combat roles emphasize brute strength over other factors, even as research shows that brute strength alone is a poor indicator of readiness.
Kash Patel, as the nominee to run the FBI, told Mike Lee of Utah that he would make certain that the agency remained independent of the White House and would avoid any “political weaponization.” Lee was beyond naïve; he was practically a Patel cheerleader, reading aloud an endorsement for Patel from the National Sheriffs’ Association. Yet he’s been silent as the Justice Department led a questionable raid on the home of former Trump national security adviser John Bolton. Nor did Lee seem bothered by the dismissal of FBI agents who investigated Trump for harboring classified documents and of those who led inquiries into the January 6 attack. Lee did, however, call for an investigation of James Comey for his “86-47” social media post.
Republican Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee also swallowed Patel’s lies, hook, line, and sinker. Patel claimed to her that there would be “no more political persecutions and no more two tiers of justice,” and also promised to release the Epstein files, a pet issue for Blackburn. “Absolutely, Senator,” he said. “I will do everything, if confirmed as FBI director, to make sure the American public knows the full weight of what happened in the past and how we are gonna countermand missing children and exploited children going further.”
When he didn’t release the files, Blackburn showed a sudden decrease in concern. She posted on X that she was “hopeful we can still uncover this information,” then gave a general statement about human trafficking that in no way criticized Patel or the administration.
Like Patel, Pam Bondi also promised Lee that the supposed “weaponization of government” under the Biden administration would come to an end. Bondi’s version of not weaponizing the Justice Department has included firing all of special counsel Jack Smith’s staff and forming a committee (called the “Weaponization Working Group,” of all things) to investigate and shame anyone who went after Trump or his allies. It was apparently influential in getting a case against a doctor in Utah dismissed, despite credible fraud allegations for abusing Covid-19 funds. Dismissing the case, Bondi thanked two people for their help: Lee and Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Trump’s sycophantic attorney general also hasn’t hesitated (at Trump’s behest, you can be sure) to open investigations into Trump enemies Senator Adam Schiff of California and Attorney General Letitia James of New York.
In reality, none of these senators really cares about political weaponization; they only care who it is directed toward. Nor do they care about protecting vaccine access and preserving medical care and services for their constituents. What they care about is preserving their jobs and doing anything they can to avoid antagonizing King Donald. So they act the role of the independent senator, putting on a show of scrutiny and deliberation. But in truth, they’re ready to believe any tale they’re told because they’re either that willing or that stupid—or perhaps both.
