Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lowered a raw Thanksgiving turkey into a bubbling pot of cooking fat in a video posted to social media last November. "This is how we cook the MAHA way," said Kennedy, who the Senate confirmed as head of the U.

The vote puts a longtime critic of vaccines and the medical establishment in charge of the nation’s vast and powerful health apparatus.

The vote capped a remarkable rise for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was confirmed by a Republican Senate in a chamber where his father and uncles once served as Democrats.