HHS watchdog finds Seema Verma mishandled millions of dollars in federal contracts that ultimately benefited friends, former Trump officials.
A top Trump administration health official violated federal contracting rules by steering millions of taxpayer dollars in contracts that ultimately benefited GOP-aligned communications consultants, according to an inspector general report released Thursday.
The contracts, which were directed by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services chief Seema Verma, were only halted after a POLITICO investigationraised questions about their legality and the agency had paid out more than $5 million to the contractors.
The 70-page HHS inspector general report — the result of a 15-month audit — calls on HHS and CMS to take nine separate actions to address the “significant deficiencies” that it identified. Those actions include conducting a review of all the department’s contracts, and making a closer examination of whether CMS overpaid several of its contractors. Continue reading.