Maine’s two senators took starkly different positions on the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who narrowly won Senate approval Thursday to lead the nation’s health care system.

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, delivered a floor speech before voting against Kennedy, calling him “a danger,” “grossly unqualified” and “manifestly hostile” to the agency’s mission to protect public health. He cited Kennedy’s long history of criticizing vaccines and falsely linking them to autism.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, voted yes along with nearly all of her Republican colleagues. Collins had said that, despite Kennedy’s criticisms of vaccines in the past, she was satisfied with his testimony in confirmation hearings that he would help restore Americans’ confidence in vaccines and would support development of a Lyme vaccine if confirmed by the Senate.

The Senate voted 52-48 to confirm Kennedy’s nomination Thursday morning. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, was the only Republican to vote against confirmation.

During a 15-minute floor speech late Wednesday, King described the Senate debate as “surreal,” saying that most members, including Republicans, know that Kennedy should not lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and that if the confirmation vote were held by secret ballot, the nominee would struggle to reach 20 votes.

“Mr. President, I hope this place comes to its senses and rejects this surreal nomination,” said King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats. “It would probably be hard to find somebody less qualified to serve in this position. I believe that it will lead to damage to our country, to our health, to our children, and I urge my colleagues to vote no.

“If you vote yes, you’ll regret it.”

Collins has said she fundamentally believes that presidents should have discretion in choosing their cabinet, noting that she has only opposed 10 of some 200 nominations made by five Democratic and Republican presidents during her tenure in the Senate. She most recently opposed former Fox News personality Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, but he was confirmed anyway when Vice President JD Vance broke a 50-50 tie.

Collins has provided crucial support to other controversial nominees, including former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as national intelligence director and Russell Vought as White House budget director.

Collins said in a radio interview Thursday morning that she is supporting Kennedy because he said under oath during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education and Pension Committee, on which she serves, that he believes the polio vaccine is safe and effective, and he would not restrict the availability of vaccines or stop development of a Lyme disease vaccine in Maine. He also vowed to reexamine the administration’s cuts to grant funding for biomedical research.

“He told me he believed in the efficacy of the polio vaccine, and said he would help restore Americans’ confidence in vaccines and our health agencies,” she said in a written statement Tuesday. “I am also encouraged that Mr. Kennedy agreed to regular meetings with the chairman of the HELP Committee, who is a physician.”

But King was incredulous of the notion that a man who has spent decades advocating against vaccines, calling them unsafe and falsely linking them to autism, has suddenly had a “miraculous conversion.”

“He has acted on his vaccine skepticism,” King said. “This wasn’t something that was rumbling around in his head. He’s traveled the world. He’s written articles, gone on podcasts, gone on TV and he’s discouraged people from being vaccinated. And now he has this miraculous conversion 10 days ago.”

‘SURREAL DEBATE’

King also criticized Kennedy’s social media post accusing the Food and Drug Administration, which among other things oversees the testing and development of new vaccines, of waging “a war on public health” and warned “corrupt workers” to “preserve your records and pack your bags.”

“You should not be voting for somebody who you know is going to do harm to the public health,” King said. “So this is really a kind of surreal debate because everybody in this chamber knows this man should not be secretary of Health and Human Services.”

Maine public health experts and health care providers have been pressuring Maine’s senators to oppose the nomination, saying Kennedy has undermined important public health initiatives and faith in medical science.

Caitlin Gilmet, director of Maine Families for Vaccines, released a written statement after the vote about the importance of state-level advocacy to counter Kennedy’s claims.

“This confirmation is a disappointing setback for public health, but we are not deterred. The most important vaccine protections happen at the state level, and we’re ready to fight harder than ever to ensure strong immunization laws and policies remain intact,” Gilmet said. “We will not let anti-vaccine misinformation go unchallenged, and we urge lawmakers and families to stand with us in defending science and protecting our communities.”