Caroline Kennedy, the only surviving child of President John F. Kennedy and a former U.S. ambassador, sent a letter to lawmakers urging them not to confirm her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who she referred to as a ‘predator’ and said was ‘unqualified’ both professionally and personally to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

RFK Jr. is set to sit before two Senate committees on Wednesday and Thursday this week, during which lawmakers will get a chance to probe him about various issues related to his nomination as Health and Human Services Secretary. In advance of those hearings, Caroline sent a letter to senators who will vote on her cousin’s confirmation, explaining why she thinks he should not be allowed to run the federal government’s chief public health agency. 

‘Throughout the past year people have asked for my thoughts about my cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr and his presidential campaign. I did not comment, not only because I was serving in a government position as United States Ambassador to Australia, but because I have never wanted to speak publicly about my family members and their challenges,’ Caroline said in a video posted online of her reading the letter. ‘But now that Bobby has been nominated by President Trump to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, a position that would put him in charge of the health of the American people, I feel an obligation to speak.’

In addition to arguing her cousin lacked the relevant government, financial management and medical experience to fill the role of HHS Secretary, Caroline said her cousin’s personal qualities were also a disqualifying factor. In the letter, Caroline called her cousin a ‘predator,’ arguing he has sought to exploit his family’s tragedies for publicity and led his siblings and cousins down a path of addiction.

‘It’s no surprise that he keeps birds of prey as pets, because Bobby himself is a predator,’ she said. ‘I watched his younger brothers and cousins follow him down the path of drug addiction. His basement, his garage, his dorm room were always the center of the action – where drugs were available and he enjoyed showing off how he put baby chickens and mice in a blender to feed to his hawks.’

Caroline did concede that such moments were ‘a long time ago,’ and that she admired her cousin for finding his way out of his addiction. ‘I admire the discipline that took,’ she said. ‘But siblings and cousins who Bobby encouraged down the path of substance abuse suffered addiction, illness and death, while Bobby has gone on to misrepresent, lie and cheat his way through life.’

Caroline added in the letter that her cousin was ‘addicted to attention and power,’ and also accused him of grandstanding ‘off my father’s assassination and that of his own father.’

‘It’s incomprehensible to me that someone who is willing to exploit their own painful family tragedies for publicity would be put in charge of America’s life and death situations.’

She also took shots at her cousin’s views on vaccines in the letter, calling them ‘dangerous and willfully misinformed.’ In the past, Kennedy has posited theories that vaccines cause autism, argued they are not safe for young children, and blamed them for a rise in chronic disease across the United States.  

‘Bobby preys on the desperation of parents of sick children, vaccinating his own kids while building a following hypocritically discouraging other parents from vaccinating theirs,’ she said. ‘Overseeing the FDA, the NIH, the CDC and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services agencies that are charged with protecting the most vulnerable among us is an enormous responsibility and one that Bobby is unqualified to fill.’

RFK Jr.’s confirmation remains uncertain as both Republicans and Democrats have taken issue with his stance on vaccines and other public health issues. Lawmakers from more rural states have also raised concern over the potential that RFK Jr. could severely disrupt the agriculture sector as a result of his staunch views on healthy eating. 

He will face questions from both the Senate Committee on Finance and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions this week. However, only the Finance committee will ultimately vote on whether to advance RFK Jr.’s nomination to a full floor vote.

DORAL, Fla. — Vice President JD Vance urged Republicans to stick together during a closed-door meeting at the House GOP annual issues conference on Tuesday, as tensions simmer over some lawmakers’ decisions to skip the multi-day event.

House Republicans are at President Donald Trump’s golf course and resort in Doral, Florida, for three days of discussions on how to execute his legislative agenda. 

Vance addressed the gathering on Tuesday in a speech that acknowledged the differences of opinion across the Republican conference, while imploring them to find a way to overcome those divisions and ‘be good’ to one another, two lawmakers in the room told Fox News Digital.

Those fractures flared up a short while later, however, when two lawmakers stood up to criticize colleagues who were not attending the event during the question and answer portion of Vance’s appearance, two other sources said.

It comes after Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, posted on X that he was not attending the retreat, arguing it was a waste of time.

‘It is being reported I am not at the so-called Republican retreat in Florida. I am not,’ Roy wrote. ‘I am in Texas, with my family & meeting with constituents, rather than spending $2K to hear more excuses for increasing deficits & not being in DC to deliver Trump’s border security [funding] ASAP.’

Roy told Fox News that he could not speak for fellow members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus who were missing from the retreat, adding, ‘We all have things that we’ve got to deal with.’

‘If you’re asking me to go spend money to go sit in a resort rather than doing our damn job… no, I’m not going to do that,’ he said.

Others argued that Roy and others’ absence was actively undermining attempts to unify behind a legislative roadmap.

‘Sadly enough, we have people sitting at home complaining about the meeting on Twitter, and they’re the ones who’d rather complain, attack, argue, than be part of the solution,’ Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital. ‘We know who they are. We just have to deal with it.’

With a razor-thin margin in the House, Republicans must vote in virtual lockstep to pass any legislation without Democratic support.

One lawmaker said Vance embraced a ‘team message’ during his speech and ‘recognizes there will be differences, but we must come together once debate is over.’

Vance also told Republicans that Trump wants to raise the debt limit, something he will have to contend with this year, without support from or leverage by Democrats, Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., told reporters after the meeting. 

Other Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital while leaving the event also embraced the Ohio Republican’s message and him as a messenger.

‘He’s saying the things about fiscal sanity that we need to hear,’ Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, said.

‘He’s smart as hell, he’s eloquent,’ Murphy said. ‘Trump really nailed it on that one – he was a great pick.’

The Trump administration is offering buyouts for nearly all federal employees, including those who work remotely, as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to get employees back into the office, but they only have until Feb. 6 to opt-in.

During Trump’s first week in office, he issued several directives to the federal workforce, including a requirement that remote employees must return to in-person work.

‘After four years of incompetence and failure, President Donald Trump is committed to making our government efficient and productive again,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Tuesday. ‘American taxpayers pay for the salaries of federal government employees and therefore deserve employees working on their behalf who actually show up to work in our wonderful federal buildings, also paid for by taxpayers.

‘If they don’t want to work in the office and contribute to making America great again, then they are free to choose a different line of work, and the Trump Administration will provide a very generous payout of eight months,’ she added.

On Tuesday, a government-wide email was sent out to ensure all federal workers were on board with the Trump administration’s plan.

The email pointed to four pillars that Trump set forth, to bring accountability back to the federal government, including a return to in-person work, restored accountability for employees who have policy-making authority, restored accountability for senior executives, and a reformed federal hiring process based on merit.

‘The government-wide email being sent today is to make sure that all federal workers are on board with the new administration’s plan to have federal employees in office and adhering to higher standards,’ a senior administration official said. ‘We’re five years past COVID and just 6 percent of federal employees work full-time in office. That is unacceptable.’

The email noted that the majority of federal employees who have worked remotely since COVID will be required to return to their physical offices five days a week.

‘Going forward, we also expect our physical offices to undergo meaningful consolidation and divestitures, potentially resulting in physical office relocations for a number of federal workers,’ the email read.

For those who returned to office, the Trump administration thanked them for their ‘renewed focus’ on serving the American people. But the future of their position could not be guaranteed, according to the email.

For those who do not want to continue in their role with the federal workforce, the Trump administration thanked them for their services, informing them they will be provided with a ‘dignified, fair departure from the federal government utilizing a deferred resignation program.’

The program begins on Jan. 28 and will be available until Feb. 6, and should a federal employee choose to resign under the program, they will retain all pay and benefits, regardless of workload, and will be exempt from their in-person work requirements until Sep. 30, 2025.

The buyouts do not apply to military personnel of the armed forces, the U.S. Postal Services, positions related to immigration enforcement and national security, and any other positions specifically excluded by the agency the federal workers are employed by.

‘To be clear, as it was with President Trump’s executive order on Day One, implementation of return-to-work policies will be done by each individual agency in accordance with applicable law,’ the senior administration official said. ‘We expect 5 to 10 percent of federal employees to quit, and it could lead to $100 billion annually in savings for federal taxpayers.’