Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s contentious confirmation hearings this week demonstrate why the Trump nominee is unqualified to lead a major federal health agency, according to public health experts.

Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer and founder of a nonprofit organization that opposes vaccinations, was nominated by President Trump to serve as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He testified before Senate committees on Wednesday and Thursday, facing scrutiny over his history of actions that ran contrary to science as well as his knowledge of the agency he would oversee.

“We saw the importance of having health experience, because he demonstrated that he did not have a lot of health experience,” Georges Benjamin, MD, APHA executive director said after Kennedy's first day of questioning Jan. 29. “We saw that he has a real dearth of management experience. We also saw the fact that he has the propensity to cherry pick information.”Robert F. Kennedy testifies at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025

Overseeing important aspects of Medicaid and Medicare are key tasks of serving as leader of HHS. At the hearing, Kennedy said he was interested in combining the two programs, which together serve more than 138 million Americans. Medicare provides insurance for older Americans and certain people with disabilities, and Medicaid offers health insurance for low-income people.

When questioned by lawmakers, he could not explain how he would combine the two massive programs, misstated how Medicaid is funded and had trouble defining the basic components of Medicare.

“He did not understand any of that, and this is not rocket science,” Benjamin said. "We're spending $5 trillion (on health care) and we're at the bottom of the industrialized nations in terms of health outcomes. Lot of reasons for that — but he ain’t the guy to fix that.”

Benjamin and other public health leaders met with members of the media after both of Kennedy's hearings, breaking down his knowledge and stances.

Although Kennedy showed some support for vaccines, he failed to recognize the protections and health advances vaccines have made, Julie Sweetland, PhD, senior advisor of the Frameworks Institute, said at the Wednesday press briefing.

Kennedy has come under fire for his work against vaccinations, including spreading false conspiracies that vaccines are linked to autism and the onset of other childhood diseases. In 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kennedy petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to revoke emergency use authorizations for existing COVID-19 vaccinations and not approve or license them, even though they were shown to be safe and effective. The vaccinations have since been credited with saving millions of lives.

On Thursday, as Kennedy talked about vaccines and said he was "pro safety,” protestors interrupted, shouting “You lie!”

“I believe that vaccines play a critical role in health care.” Kennedy said. “All of my kids are vaccinated.”

When asked how he would address challenges such as workforce shortages in rural areas, Kennedy pointed to artificial technology and telehealth, highlighting that the Cleveland Clinic has developed an AI nurse that is just as effective as "any nurse, any doctor."

But artificial intelligence is not a substitute for in-person care, particularly for younger patients, according to Susan Kressly, MD, FAAP, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“As pediatricians, we really worry about using technology that was built mostly for the adult world and applying it to kids,” Kressly said at the Wednesday press briefing.

On reproductive health, Kennedy said he would implement policies on abortion and the abortion medications decided by Trump.

"I agree with him that we cannot be a moral nation if we have 1.2 million abortions a year; I agree with him that the states should control abortion," Kennedy said, adding that he will serve “at the pleasure of the president. I'm going to implement his policies.”

Kennedy’s performance at the hearings cemented opinions on the nominee for many in public health, including APHA’s Benjamin. In an op-ed published on STAT on Jan. 31, Benjamin said Kennedy was ”uninformed on health care financing, wrong on vaccines and wrong on chronic diseases.”

“The Senate should reject Kennedy for the sake of our health,” he said. “He has demonstrated conclusively that he is not the one.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies at his confirmation hearing Wednesday, Jan. 29. (Screenshot by The Nation's Health)