What to know from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s hearings before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on Thursday.

If approved, Kennedy will control a $1.7 trillion agency that oversees food and hospital inspections, hundreds of health clinics, vaccine recommendations and health insurance for roughly half the country.

As he seeks to lead the health department, Mr. Kennedy wore a thin tie dotted with feathered creatures to cap a classic suit.

RFK Jr. claimed he is not “anti-vaccine” and appeared unfamiliar with key aspects of healthcare insurance programs in his confirmation hearing.

Sanders, the senior minority party member on the committee, pressed Kennedy to concede that health care was a human right, as his father, Robert F. Kennedy, and his uncles, John F. Kennedy and Edward Kennedy, had done. Kennedy again did not give a definitive answer.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confronted with a number of his baseless claims and a vexing abortion issue. But Republican senators treaded lightly.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced intense scrutiny about previous statements at his first confirmation hearing for DHHS secretary.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said vaccines are not safe. His support for abortion access has made conservatives uncomfortable.