Two former Democratic presidential candidates have been confirmed to President Donald Trump’s cabinet despite concerns from Christians and pro-life advocates.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as director of National Intelligence in a 52-48 vote Wednesday. On Thursday, the upper chamber confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in a 52-48 vote.
Both votes came down largely along party lines, with all but one Senate Republican supporting the nominees and all Democrats opposing them. In both cases, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., sided with Democrats to oppose the nominees.
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Gabbard, who formerly represented Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2020. She later left the Democratic Party and became an independent, citing what she described as its embrace of “cowardly wokeness” and hostility toward people of faith as the reasons for her decision.
Kennedy ran in the 2024 Democratic presidential primaries against incumbent President Joe Biden. He later switched to an independent bid before dropping out and endorsing Trump less than three months before the election.
While near-unanimous support from Republicans secured their confirmations, both Gabbard and Kennedy faced criticism from influential voices within the conservative movement.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who served alongside Trump during his first term, urged Senate Republicans to reject his nomination due to his past support for abortion.
In a statement published shortly after Trump selected Kennedy as his pick to lead HHS, Pence expressed concern that because Kennedy “has defended abortion on demand during all nine months of pregnancy, supports overturning the Dobbs decision and has called for legislation to codify Roe v. Wade,” he would become “the most pro-abortion Republican appointed secretary of HHS in modern history.”
During his confirmation hearings, Kennedy worked to assure Republican members of the U.S. Senate that he would implement the pro-life policies of the Trump administration. He vowed to oppose late-term abortions, ensure conscience protections for those opposed to abortion and halt federal funding of abortions.
Gabbard, a 43-year-old Hindu, has faced criticism from religious freedom advocacy groups, including the Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations, over her reported ties to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Hindu nationalists in India who engage in persecution of Christians and other religious minorities.
FIACONA described Gabbard as “a direct threat to our country’s national security.”
“Since the beginning of her political career in US Congress in [2013], Gabbard was dependent on support from association with American affiliates of the Rashtryia Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS),” the group stressed in a statement published shortly after her nomination the organization.
RSS is a Hindu nationalist paramilitary in India that “seeks the extermination of Indian Christians and Muslims in order to establish a Hindu nation,” FIACONA warned.
FIACONA criticized Gabbard’s “policy actions in U.S. Congress to torpedo attempts, early before and after Modi’s election, to criticize the Hindu nationalist movement for its pogroms of religious minorities.”
While Gabbard’s nomination was met with skepticism by some in the Christian community, others have embraced her.
The Rev. Franklin Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham and president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse as well as the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, spoke positively about Gabbard in a social media post published last week. He praised Gabbard as “honest, incredibly smart, and a tough soldier” and described her as “a great American who loves this country and will put America first.”
Kennedy and Gabbard are two of the three Trump cabinet nominees confirmed thus far who have not received unanimous support from Republican senators.
The third, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, had three Republicans oppose him: Sens. McConnell, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. Because of the three Republican defections, Vice President J.D. Vance had to cast the tie-breaking vote.
As of Thursday afternoon, the U.S. Senate has confirmed 16 of Trump’s cabinet nominees, including Gabbard, Kennedy and Hegseth. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the only cabinet pick to receive unanimous confirmation from the U.S. Senate.
Other confirmed cabinet officials are Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Secretary of Energy Christopher Wright, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Eric Turner.
Besides Kennedy and Gabbard, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins are the most recent additions to the Trump cabinet. Meanwhile, several Trump cabinet picks are still awaiting confirmation.
Elise Stefanik, Trump’s nominee to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; Mike Huckabee, the nominee for U.S. ambassador to Israel; and Mark Burnett, whom Trump nominated to serve as special envoy to the United Kingdom; are among those yet to be confirmed. Also awaiting confirmation are Dave Weldon, whom Trump tapped to lead the Center for Disease Control and Prevention; U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See nominee Brian Burch and National Institutes of Health Director nominee Jay Bhattacharya.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
