Democrat Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse may vote for President Donald Trump's secretary nominee for Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., local Rhode Island outlet WPRI reported Friday.
Both Kennedy and Whitehouse have a longstanding friendship dating back to their time as law school roommates at the University of Virginia — both earning a Juris Doctorate in 1982, Talking Points Memo reported Friday.
"On many mornings, the two young men, scions of wealthy families with histories of public service, hiked and hunted in the woods around Charlottesville, Va.," The Providence Journal wrote in 1998. "Kennedy half-jokingly says he failed his first bar exam because Whitehouse persuaded him to take a four-day whitewater rafting trip in West Virginia when he should have been studying."
But Whitehouse has been tightlipped about breaking ranks with his Democrat colleagues, telling Politico reporter Anthony Adragna, "I'm not going to reveal how I'm voting on any nominee." Still, the Talk Points Memo cites that Rhode Island's healthcare system needs regulatory assistance from HHS.
Last month, Whitehouse told Slate, "There's a bunch of stuff that I want from HHS. So I'm going to hold my fire on that."
Other Democrat senators with question marks next to their names in favor of Kennedy are former Democrat Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Pennsylvania Sen. Jon Fetterman.
Nick Koutsobinas ✉
Nick Koutsobinas, a Newsmax writer, has years of news reporting experience. A graduate from Missouri State University’s philosophy program, he focuses on exposing corruption and censorship.
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