Hours before former Representative Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.) withdrew himself from consideration as attorney general-designate Thursday afternoon, Senate Republicans were expressing public reservations about another one of President-elect Donald Trump's controversial cabinet picks – Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Ask Republican Senators on Capitol Hill to share their hesitations about Trump's preferred candidate to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, and three main concerns come to mind – his views on abortion, vaccines, and pesticides.

Those three issues certainly top the list of concerns for Republican Senator Pete Ricketts (R., Neb.).

"Obviously, agriculture is an important industry for my state — the number one industry — so I care about that," Ricketts said in a brief interview with National Review on Thursday, adding that another less-discussed policy concern is also on his mind when it comes to Kennedy potentially leading HHS.

"There’s no secret that I am very anti-marijuana, so I’ll be interested in talking to him about that."

As a Democrat-turned-Independent former presidential candidate, member of the Kennedy family, and environmental lawyer, RFK Jr. has raised eyebrows in Republican circles on Capitol Hill over his overtly pro-choice views and controversial rhetoric about vaccines.

But for many senators from agriculture-heavy states, Kennedy's "Make America Healthy Again" pledge to wage war against the "pesticides, food additives, pharmaceutical drugs and toxic waste permeate every cell in our bodies" is also worrying.

Take the video posted on Kennedy’s website on October 17 — roughly two months after he endorsed Trump and began campaigning with the GOP ticket on the trail — when Kennedy pledged to "reverse 80 years of farm policy in this country, which have directed us toward industrial agriculture, industrial meat production, factory farming, chemical based agriculture, carbon based fertilizers, all of these things that are destroying the soils in our country."

That kind of anti-pesticide rhetoric is not lost on many Republican lawmakers.

"For those of us in agriculture, the biggest thing I hear is: 'Well, we’ve got to be able to utilize modern farming practices that obviously includes fertilizers, pesticides, all those kinds of things that go into our food supply,'" says Senator John Hoeven (R., N. D.). He says he's on board with many of Kennedy's positions on "finding ways to do medicine better" and reforming HHS. And he acknowledges that a large chunk of pesticide-related policy will still come through the environmental protection agency under the next administration.

"But to the extent he interfaces with agriculture," Hoeven says of Kennedy, "I need to have those conversations, which is not a part of the confirmation process but part of working together."

Senate Republicans plan to ask Kennedy about a range of policy issues when they meet with him individually on Capitol Hill in the coming weeks. That grill session will heat up when the advice-and-consent process kicks off in earnest after the holidays.

"He’s got to explain what his position is on vaccines," senator Mike Rounds (R., S.D.) tells National Review. "He’s going to have to talk to us about it and explain his position,” he said, adding that the same goes for his views on abortion.

As Trump's HHS pick, Kennedy will first be vetted by the Senate Finance Committee, which will be led next year incoming chairman Mike Crapo (R., Idaho.). The committee — which includes senators Bill Cassidy (R., La.), Thom Tillis (R., N.C.). and Todd Young (R., Ind.) — will decide whether Kennedy gets to a confirmation hearing.

"I’m willing to have a discussion with him and find out where he’s coming from," Senate Finance Committee member and Iowa senator Chuck Grassley told reporters earlier this week. "But I may have to spend a lot of time educating him about agriculture, and I’m willing to do that."

“We’re digging a lot on the life issue, that’s a big deal for me,” Senate Finance Committee member and Oklahoma Senator James Lankford told NR on Thursday. “I have a whole list of questions for him about what the previous Trump administration did at HHS, and see if that’s his intention to be able to do those same things again.”

Kennedy’s abortion stance is also a concern for Senator Tommy Tuberville, (R., Ala.), the staunchly pro-life lawmaker who spent months last year holding up military promotions in protest over the Biden administration's Pentagon policy granting travel reimbursements and time off to service members seeking abortions.

"I’ve not talked to him, so I think that’s going to be a concerning point," Tuberville said in an interview. "I don’t think it’s going to be a deal breaker by any means, but he should let everybody know his stance, the position that he’s going to hold."

And while Kennedy’s commitment to cleaning up the country’s food supply, waging war against the pharmaceutical industry, and reevaluating the U.S. government’s vaccine policy turns off some Republicans, others are gung-ho about the pick. Convincing other Republican senators to get on board is the next step.

"From my standpoint, what I hope Bobby does is he gets in and he comes up with a process for ensuring that scientific research and studies have integrity. Right now, they don’t," Senator Ron Johnson (R., Wis.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, said in an interview on Thursday. Johnson confirmed to NR that Kennedy's views on abortion, pesticides, and vaccines top the list of concerns for most of his Republican colleagues, adding that some senators are also raising the cabinet pick's opposition to fluoride in the water supply as a potential knock against him.

And yet Johnson remains optimistic about Kennedy's confirmation chances. "I haven’t seen anybody that’s close-minded in there," Johnson said of his GOP colleagues' concerns about Kennedy. As listens to those concerns, it's his believe that Kennedy will "be able to overcome" them.

It’s possible that Gaetz’s withdrawal from consideration as attorney general will shift some senators’ decision-making confirmation calculus when it comes to other cabinet nominees.

Beyond Kennedy, there's defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host and military veteran who is facing allegations of sexual misconduct (which he has denied), as well as director of national intelligence pick Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman and 2020 presidential candidate whose foreign policy record could come back to haunt her in committee. Republican senators are privately discussing interest in gaining access to Gabbard’s FBI file, Punchbowl News reports, and grilling her for her controversial rhetoric about Syria, Russia, and Edward Snowden, and more.