'I have no idea': RFK Jr.’s former staffers question his ability to run a federal agency

28 November 2024

President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), though even Kennedy's supportive former campaign staffers aren't sure he has the leadership skills to run one of the largest federal agencies.

Politico recently reported that some of RFK Jr.'s doubt his ability to oversee HHS' workforce of 80,000 employees and its massive budget. According to HHS' fiscal year 2025 budget proposal, the agency called for $130.7 billion in discretionary funds and a whopping $1.7 trillion in mandatory proposed budget authority. HHS also has 13 sub-agencies under its umbrella.

Jeff Hutt, who is RFK Jr.'s former national field director for his independent 2024 presidential campaign and a spokesperson for the Make America Healthy Again PAC, was one of several ex-staffers who confided to the publication that his old boss may not be up to the task of being the nation's next HHS secretary.

"He’s an inspirational leader who’s able to communicate. But he’s not a manager," Hutt told Politico.

Another former campaign staffer who spoke anonymously to Politico was more frank in their assessment that the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy was incapable of managing a massive federal bureaucracy. They added that while they viewed him as a "fantastic lawyer" who "wants to help all people," they acknowledged his lack of experience in running large teams of workers.

“I have no idea how he’s going to run a full department, if that’s how he ran the campaign,” former campaign staffer granted anonymity to discuss internal dynamics. “Running a court case and suing folks is a lot different than running a business."

RFK Jr.'s campaign was decidedly smaller than HHS, and he ended it before even receiving a single vote — both in the Democratic primary, when he initially launched his campaign, and in the general as he ultimately suspended it and endorsed Trump. The campaign raised $62 million, though $15 million of that came from his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, who is the former spouse of Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

"I technically think that we could have raised an additional $50 to 75 million from what he raised,” RFK Jr.'s former finance director, Dave Murphy, told Politico. “We should have had exponential growth, and that didn’t happen."

"I just think that every campaign and leaders succeed or fail based on the leadership around them, the people that are close to them, and I think there were some people that didn’t understand the vision of what a presidential campaign [and that it] actually needs to bring money in the door to make it credible," he added.

Click here to read Politico's report in full.

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