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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard\u2019s confirmation chances are coming down to a trio of publicly uncommitted Republican senators who have the power to sink their nominations in committee votes Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Sen. Bill Cassidy is the sole wildcard on the Senate Finance Committee, which will decide whether to advance the HHS secretary nominee at 10 a.m. Cassidy has indicated that he\u2019s still troubled by Kennedy\u2019s vaccine skepticism, and he\u2019s balancing his physician past with his political future<\/u><\/a> in deep-red Louisiana, where he\u2019s up for reelection next year.<\/p>\n

Cassidy told reporters Monday he had a \u201ccordial\u201d conversation with Kennedy over the weekend but was \u201cstill working through\u201d his decision. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Cassidy have talked about it.<\/p>\n

Over on Senate Intelligence, Sens. Todd Young and Jerry Moran have yet to disclose how they intend to vote on Gabbard\u2019s nomination for national intelligence director during a closed session at 2 p.m. Young told reporters Monday that he had \u201ca lot of great conversations\u201d over the weekend regarding Gabbard. Moran left Gabbard\u2019s hearing last Thursday saying her responses to his questions on Russia and keeping intelligence nonpartisan were \u201csatisfactory\u201d \u2014 but declined to say how he would vote.<\/p>\n

Gabbard on Monday won the backing of Sen. Susan Collins, another Intel swing vote, who said the former Hawaii lawmaker \u201cshares my vision\u201d of scaling back the size of the DNI office and \u201caddressed my concerns\u201d over her past support for pardoning NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Sen. James Lankford, another Intel member, also reaffirmed his support for Gabbard<\/u><\/a> despite raising concerns last week that she refused to call Snowden a traitor in her confirmation hearing.<\/p>\n

Step back<\/b>: If Gabbard and Kennedy advance Tuesday, it means President Donald Trump has a strong chance of getting all his Cabinet picks through the Senate (not counting Matt Gaetz). That\u2019s a stunning turn of events from just weeks ago, when it seemed like Kennedy, Gabbard and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were all in trouble. And it illustrates, yet again, Trump\u2019s iron grip on the congressional GOP.<\/p>\n

What else we\u2019re watching:<\/b><\/p>\n