WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, who has faced protests outside his offices this week, says he won’t vote to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominees to lead Health and Human Services and the country’s national intelligence agencies, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard.

“I have met with most of the Cabinet nominees and have carefully watched their confirmation hearings,” the Pennsylvania Democrat said in a post on social media site X Thursday night. “After considering what’s at stake, I have voted against moving forward to the confirmation of Gabbard and Kennedy, and will be voting NO on their confirmations.”

Fetterman, who last month denied rumors that he was considering switching parties, has supported some of Trump’s nominees, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., Trump’s pick for United Nations Ambassador.

Earlier this week he became the lone Democrat to support former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was confirmed as attorney general.

But Kennedy and Gabbard are among the most controversial of Trump’s nominees, though they’ve been supported by Republican senators so far amid pressure from the White House and Trump allies.

Kennedy, a longtime environmental lawyer and pro-choice advocate whose run for president stalled last year, has a track record of spreading misinformation on medicine and vaccines.

Gabbard, former Democratic congresswoman and lieutenant colonel in the National Guard, has become one of Trump’s staunchest supporters. But she has no formal intelligence experience, and she’s drawn criticism from both parties for parroting Russian propaganda and casting doubt on U.S. intelligence reports about Syria’s use of chemical weapons against civilians.

Fetterman has drawn praise over the last year from conservatives and independents for his hard-line pro-Israel stance, his push for a stronger border and his openness to working across the aisle. He is the only Democrat who met recently with Trump at the Republican’s Florida Mar-a-Lago resort, and the president said he was impressed by the former lieutenant governor and Braddock mayor.

But the senator has sparked the ire of some Democrats and his own supporters after bucking a progressive label for almost his entire two years in office.

“We need to act like a real opposition party in the middle of a constitutional and democracy crisis,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told MSNBC this week. “That means we should not be moving forward nominees or legislation in the U.S. Senate. Democrats should not be giving votes to nominees … until Republicans get serious about this crisis.”

Fetterman also sparked criticism and confusion this week from previous supporters and members of the Pittsburgh Jewish community after he expressed support for Trump’s dramatic proposal to “take over” and redevelop the Gaza Strip, potentially with the removal of almost 2 million Palestinians, and American troops helping keep the peace.

The White House later walked back the proposal, noting the president hasn’t committed any U.S. tax dollars or American boots on the ground in Gaza — a prospect that experts told the Post-Gazette would undoubtedly put troops in harm’s way.

But Fetterman has been adamant that while he’ll work with the new administration and his GOP counterparts on Capitol Hill to help Pennsylvanians, he would fight the second Trump administration on a range of matters when necessary.

He’s consistently said he will protect union workers, help keep people’s rights intact and have the back of the LGBTQ+ community. Trump this week signed an executive order effectively barring transgender women from competing in women’s sports. The NCAA quickly announced new policy complying with the order.

Fetterman this week also voted against Russell Vought — one of the architects of the Heritage Foundation’s conservative policy playbook Project 2025 — to lead the country’s top budget office. The powerful role, which Vought held for almost two years during the previous Trump administration, helps execute the administration’s policy prerogatives across federal agencies and legislative efforts.

“Last year, I called out the dangers of Project 2025 and the damage it’d do to our country,” Fetterman said in a statement. “Americans were assured the Trump team had no ties to it — then nominated one of its authors to lead [the Office of Management and Budget]. My view has not changed and I will be a hard NO on Vought.”

The Senate later confirmed Vought Thursday after Democrats held a 30-hour protest to delay the vote.

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