The working relationship between the Trump administration’s top health officials, HHS Secretary Alex Azar and CMS Administrator Seema Verma, has grown so dysfunctional that both President Trump and Vice President Pence have intervened to try to salvage the situation, according to three senior administration officials.
Why it matters: It’s an extraordinary intervention at the highest levels of government. And it highlights, as Politico extensively reported, the White House’s urgent desire for the heads of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to repair their working relationship.
Behind the scenes: Azar had a clearing of the air meeting with Verma on Wednesday, at Pence’s request, according to two administration officials. This wasn’t the first time the White House had to intervene to fix this broken relationship at the top of HHS.
The following article by Rebekah Entralgo was posted on the ThinkProgress.org website July 11, 2018:
Secretary Azar boasted of the Trump administration’s abusive policy, claiming his department had nothing to hide.
Alex Azar, HHS Secretary. Credit: Win McNamee, Getty Images
The same day the federal government missed a court-imposed deadline to reunite roughly 84 children under the age of 5 with their families — after being forcibly separated from them at the U.S.-Mexico border — Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar appeared on CNN to defend how his agency has handled the recent immigration crisis.
“We have nothing to hide about how we operate these facilities,” Azar told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Tuesday night, referring to the juvenile and “tender age” facilities in which many of the separated children are currently being detained, which HHS officials have barred media outlets and public figures from filming or visiting unannounced.
Speaking to the conditions in which the children are being held, he added, “It is one of the great acts of American generosity and charity, what we are doing for these unaccompanied kids.”
The following article by Shilpa Phadke and Theresa Chalhoub was posted on the Center for American Progress website November 28, 2017:
Former Deputy HHS Secretary Alex Azar meets with reporters in Washington, D.C., June 2006. Credit: AP/Evan Vucci
The nomination of Alex Azar to become the next U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) will refocus attention on how best to oversee the many vital programs that protect the health and well-being of people across the country. The HHS secretary plays a critical role in directing the department as well as in shaping and carrying out the administration’s work on a wide array of health care programs. Azar had a long career at HHS and most recently worked as an executive at the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company. But as he begins the confirmation process, he must demonstrate how he will bring the leadership and skills necessary to carry out an agenda that will help advance and sustain the health of all families as opposed to corporate and big-money interests. Moreover, Azar will need to show whether he is prepared to provide sound leadership and not act as a rubber stamp for the harmful agendapromoted by President Donald Trump and former HHS Secretary Tom Price.
Women and families across the country rely on programs such as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicaid, Medicare, and other initiatives that provide accessible and affordable health care. The HHS secretary must engender confidence that their top priority will be to protect the integrity of our nation’s health care services and infrastructure as well as the well-being of every individual without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, gender identity, or ZIP code. The nominee must bring to the table the requisite skills and qualifications necessary to provide sound, informed, and cogent leadership to direct the work of a federal agency with a budget of over $1 trillion, 10 regional offices, and the subagencies discussed below, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Continue reading “Why the HHS Secretary Nomination Matters for Women and Families”
The following article by John T. Bennet was posted on the Roll Call website September 29, 2017:
‘I certainly don’t like the optics,’ president said Friday
President Donald Trump and Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price arrive in the Capitol to meet with House Republicans on March 21. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Updated at 5:33 p.m. | Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned Friday afternoon amid a scandal stemming from his use of taxpayer funds for private charter flights, according to the White House press secretary.
The working relationship between the Trump administration’s top health officials, HHS Secretary Alex Azar and CMS Administrator Seema Verma, has grown so dysfunctional that both President Trump and Vice President Pence have intervened to try to salvage the situation, according to three senior administration officials.
