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President-elect Donald Trump’s appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has raised concerns among even his previous campaign associates. Kennedy's former campaign staffers are questioning whether he possesses the necessary managerial skills to run such a large federal agency.

HHS is one of the major federal agencies, overseeing a workforce of 80,000 employees and handling a substantial budget. The fiscal year 2025 budget proposal for HHS called for $130.7 billion in discretionary funding and an eye-popping $1.7 trillion in mandatory proposed budget authority. The agency also encompasses 13 sub-agencies, making effective leadership crucial.

Jeff Hutt, Kennedy’s former national field director for his 2024 presidential campaign and a spokesperson for the Make America Healthy Again PAC, admitted to Politico that while RFK Jr. is an inspirational figure and communicator, he may lack the necessary management skills for the role. "He's an inspirational leader who's able to communicate. But he's not a manager," stated Hutt.

Another former campaign staffer, who spoke to Politico under the condition of anonymity, expressed similar reservations. They praised Kennedy as a “fantastic lawyer” who genuinely aims to help people but doubted his capacity to handle the complexities of managing a massive federal department. "I have no idea how he's going to run a full department, if that's how he ran the campaign," the ex-staffer remarked, highlighting the discrepancy between running a campaign and managing a federal agency.

Kennedy’s campaign was much smaller in scale compared to HHS and concluded prematurely without securing any votes in the Democratic primary or the general election. The campaign did manage to raise $62 million, with a significant $15 million contribution coming from his running mate, Nicole Shanahan. However, the campaign’s finance director, Dave Murphy, believed they could have raised an additional $50 to $75 million, attributing the shortfall to inadequate leadership.

Murphy emphasized that successful campaigns rely heavily on strong leadership and strategy. "I just think that every campaign and leaders succeed or fail based on the leadership around them, the people that are close to them," Murphy told Politico. He suggested that some of Kennedy's team may not have fully grasped the financial and organizational demands of a successful presidential campaign.

As Kennedy prepares to take on his new role, these apprehensions from his former staff underscore the significant challenges he will face in steering one of the government's largest and most critical agencies.