The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services on Feb. 13, 2025. The Senate voted 52-48 in favor of his nomination with one Republican, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), joining all 45 Democrats, and both independent senators who caucus with Democrats, in opposing his nomination. This was the 15th member of President Donald Trump’s (R) Cabinet confirmed in his second presidential term. 

Trump announced on Nov. 14, 2024, that he had selected Kennedy as his nominee for secretary of health and human services. Trump said of Kennedy’s nomination, “Mr. Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!” The Senate Finance Committee held a confirmation hearing for Kennedy on Jan. 29, 2025, and voted 14-13 to advance his nomination.

Kennedy was born on January 17, 1954, son of former U.S. Attorney General and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.), and nephew of President John F. Kennedy (D). Kennedy earned a bachelor’s degree in American history and literature from Harvard University in 1976 and a law degree from the University of Virginia in 1981. Kennedy worked as an environmental law attorney at Riverkeeper and the Natural Resources Defense Council. He earned a master’s degree in environmental law from Pace University Law School in 1987, where he was faculty until 2018. He founded Children’s Health Defense (then called World Mercury Project) in 2007, which said its vision was “a world free of childhood chronic health conditions caused by environmental exposures.”

Looking just at the main 15 Cabinet secretaries who are in the line of presidential succession, and excluding other Cabinet-level positions, Kennedy was the eleventh of the main Cabinet secretaries to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. At this point in Trump’s first term, nine of the main 15 Cabinet secretaries had been confirmed.

At this point in the Biden administration, six of the main 15 Cabinet secretaries had been confirmed, and at this point in the Obama administration, 12 of the main 15 Cabinet secretaries had been confirmed.

A presidential Cabinet is a group of senior federal officials who advise the president on the issues and activities of their respective agencies. The number of officials in a Cabinet can vary across presidential administrations. While not explicitly identified in the Constitution, the Cabinet secretaries are the 15 agency heads who are in the presidential line of succession. The vice president is also part of the Cabinet.

During Trump’s second term, the following offices are also Cabinet-rank positions: White House chief of staff, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, the U.S. trade representative, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the director of National Intelligence, the administrator of the Small Business Administration, and the ambassador to the United Nations.

Additional reading: Confirmation process for Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees, 2025