HHS/NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Monday nominated former pharmaceutical executive Alex Azar to be his next Health and Human Services secretary, moving to stabilize the agency at the center of his administration’s biggest domestic policy failure.
Azar, a veteran of George W. Bush’s administration, would succeed Tom Price, who resigned after POLITICO reported he spent roughly $1 million on private and government air travel in just seven months on the job…
If confirmed, the 50-year-old Azar would be thrust onto the front lines of a White House agenda that includes repealing Obamacare, reining in drug prices and rolling back regulations — goals that have remained largely unfulfilled since Trump took office.
The Trump administration is wagering Azar has the policy and political chops to get those priorities back on track, and the managerial expertise required to repair relationships within HHS and on Capitol Hill left frayed by congressional Republicans’ dysfunctional repeal effort and the subsequent scrutiny of Price’s travel habits.”
-Adam Cancryn and Sarah Karlin-Smith, “Trump picks ex-pharma executive Azar to lead HHS,” Politico, Nov. 13, 2017 10:46am