A resolution promoted by U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, that rebukes Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s actions as health and human services secretary cleared a Senate procedural hurdle this week.

Maine’s other senator, Republican Susan Collins, voted for the measure.

King’s resolution garnered the support of three Republicans: Collins, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, passing 50-49 on Wednesday. A final Senate vote on it will likely occur next week, according to King’s office.

Collins faces what promises to be a difficult reelection fight in 2026.

King’s resolution, if successful, would use the Congressional Review Act to reverse policies by Kennedy and the Trump administration that limit public comment and public notices on actions taken by the federal health agency.

The Congressional Review Act permits Congress to block executive branch rules.

Despite the vote on Wednesday, King’s resolution has an uncertain road ahead. The lone senator who failed to vote, Steve Daines, R-Montana, is a conservative and typically aligns with President Donald Trump. Tie votes in the Senate are broken by Vice President J.D. Vance, who would almost certainly side with the Trump administration.

The measure would also have to pass the House, where Republicans have the majority. If it were to somehow pass the House, Trump could veto it.

But King’s resolution is a way to object to Kennedy’s leadership of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A separate, long-shot effort to impeach Kennedy was launched this week by Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Michigan.

In response to Stevens’ impeachment effort, Andrew Nixon, health and human services spokesperson, told The New York Times on Wednesday that Kennedy “remains focused on the work of improving Americans’ health and lowering costs, not on partisan political stunts that have no merit.”

Kennedy has generated controversy at health and human services. Public health experts describe the administration’s response to the measles outbreak as lackluster. Under Kennedy, the federal government delayed the distribution of updated COVID-19 vaccines this fall. And most recently, a federal advisory committee decided to no longer recommend universal hepatitis B vaccines for infants shortly after birth. The committee was packed earlier this year by Kennedy loyalists.

King’s resolution attempts to reverse executive actions by the Trump administration that are aimed at avoiding doing agency business out in the open and allowing the public to comment on pending decisions. These policies have been in place for more than 50 years.

In a Senate floor speech on Wednesday, King said Kennedy’s department “canceled thousands of grants and billions of dollars of research funds … without any notice, without any opportunity to comment.”

King said research into Alzheimer’s disease and other illnesses have been curtailed under Kennedy.

“If that’s what they’re going to do, they should do it, but they should let the people know that they’re doing it and why,” said King, who opposed Kennedy’s nomination this spring.

Collins, in a statement to the Press Herald, said she voted for King’s resolution “because I favor maximum transparency in the major policy decisions” that occur at the health agency.

Collins voted in favor of Kennedy’s nomination. However, since his confirmation, Collins has criticized some of the actions at the health agency, especially cuts to National Institutes of Health research.