Not a single Republican senator voted against the nominations of former Hawaiʻi Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Senate committee confirmation votes Tuesday.

One GOP defector would have been enough to stop either of President Donald Trump’s controversial nominees for top government jobs, Gabbard as director of national intelligence and Kennedy as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

But the committee votes broke down strictly along party lines, with Gabbard approved 9-8 by the Select Committee on Intelligence and Kennedy 14-13 by the Finance Committee. Now both proceed to full Senate votes, possibly as soon as next week.

A Special Commentary Project

Civil Beat opinion writers are closely following efforts to bring more transparency and accountability to state and local government — at the Legislature, the county level and in the media. Help us by sending ideas and anecdotes to sunshine@civilbeat.org.

Read More

Critics said Gabbard was unqualified for the post because of her past supportive statements regarding Bashar al-Assad of Syria and Vladimir Putin of Russia, as well as her past calls for criminal charges to be dropped against the famous — or infamous if you prefer — leaker of classified U.S. secrets, Edward Snowden.

Kennedy’s background as an anti-vaxxer motivated Hawaiʻi’s doctor-governor to fly not once but twice to Washington, D.C., where Josh Green became one of RFK Jr.’s most outspoken critics. (We’re still waiting for the governor’s office to give us a breakdown of the costs of those trips.)

Green repeatedly recounted leading a medical mission to Samoa during a measles outbreak in 2019, only to find that Kennedy had already been there spreading his anti-vaccine sentiments. Ultimately, thousands of people were sickened and 83 died, many of them children.

(Bonus cartoon: Make sure you check out political cartoonist Will Caron’s artwork above!)

While in the nation’s capital the governor spoke with Republicans who were concerned about the nomination but were afraid to oppose Trump because “they feel he would put millions of dollars into primary campaigns to defeat them,” Green said Tuesday during an appearance on the Hawaiʻi News Now show, “Spotlight Now.”

“It’s disappointing to see some vote for him knowing he is unqualified,” Green said. “It’s dumbfounding that anybody would vote for him, knowing he doesn’t understand the health care system. That’s the state in Washington right now. They’re approving people who have no business being there.”

As for Gabbard, “I don’t want to ever say anything negative about our local people so I’m not going to do that. I’ll say in general, people are being placed into positions that they don’t have extensive experience.” 

Can you hear me yet?: Eight, count ’em, eight bills have been introduced to ban students from using cell phones in public school classrooms. Six of them are in the House, where they have all been referred to the Education Committee, chaired by Rep. Justin Woodson.

So far, none has been scheduled for a committee hearing.

It’s a different story in the Senate, where there are only two such measures, Senate Bill 684 and Senate Bill 1544. Both have hearings scheduled before the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday at 3:05 p.m.

All eight measures would apply the cell phone ban to all public school students, but Green said Tuesday during his HNN appearance that he would prefer it apply only to elementary and middle school students. High-schoolers, he said, are evolving into young adults.

And we all know that young adults and cell phones are inseparable.

Coin of the realm: The U.S. Mint has launched a 2025 Native American $1 coin featuring Mary Kawena Pukui, credited with preserving and protecting the Native Hawaiian language.

The suggestion in 2021 to then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen came from U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono.

“Mary Kawena Pukui’s work, from her translations to compositions, have sustained Hawaiian language and culture for generations,” Hirono said in a recent press release. “She was a prominent Native Hawaiian scholar, author, composer, and dancer dedicated to strengthening and preserving Hawaiian culture.”

Hirono previously recommended — successfully — that kumu hula Edith Kanakaole and Congresswoman Patsy T. Mink be featured on quarters.

The Native American $1 Coin Program was launched in 2009 to recognize the contributions made by Indian tribes and indigenous people to the history and development of the United States.