BORDER/CHILDREN/HHS/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, whose department has recently become entangled in the fight over separating undocumented children from their families, is pushing to keep focus on his agenda. Mr. Azar took office in January with a set of explicit goals after his predecessor, Dr. Tom Price, resigned under an ethics cloud. Since HHS is charged with caring for underage illegal immigrants, the agency has been pulled into the immigration debate. Now Mr. Azar is trying to keep his agenda moving ahead by relying on a close-knit team of top policy advisers. Mr. Azar, a former deputy HHS secretary and president of the U.S. affiliate of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co., has spelled out an agenda that includes fighting the opioid epidemic, lowering drug prices, overhauling the Affordable Care Act and rewarding health providers for outcomes instead of procedures. Instead, the hot-button topic of immigration has taken up much of his time and energy. Mr. Azar said he spends hours a day discussing immigration with an operations team. At a recent congressional hearing—ostensibly on drug prices—Democrats instead grilled him extensively about immigrant children.”
–Stephanie Armour, “HHS Secretary Tries to Reset Agenda Amid Family-Separations Furor,” The Wall Street Journal, July 18, 2018 9:30 am