White House officials are discussing plans to replace HHS Secretary Alex Azar - CNN

Any move to replace Azar would be contingent on President Donald Trump deciding to move forward. The official stressed that nothing is imminent, but there are discussions underway at the White House about replacing Azar.

In a statement Saturday night, deputy White House secretary Judd Deere said, "The Department of Health and Human Services, under the leadership of Secretary Azar, continues to lead on a number of the President's priorities. Any speculation about personnel is irresponsible and a distraction from our whole-of-government response to COVID-19."

The move to replace Azar was first reported by the Wall Street Journal and Politico.

As secretary, Azar has overseen several top administration priorities, including efforts to weaken the Affordable Care Act, combat the opioid crisis and reduce the cost of prescription drugs.

Azar, who joined the Trump administration in January 2018, served as general counsel and deputy secretary of the agency under former President George W. Bush. He then joined Eli Lilly, becoming president of Lilly USA in 2012. He spent nearly nine years at the company, during which time it and other drug makers greatly hiked prices.

He was appointed Health and Human Services secretary after his predecessor Tom Price resigned over his use of private planes for government business trips.

An economist and lawyer by training, Azar clerked for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in the early 1990s and later worked under Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel on the Clinton Whitewater investigation who defended Trump during his impeachment trial.

This story is breaking and is being updated.

CNN's Tami Luhby and Maegan Vazquez contributed to this report.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Top stories - Google News
April 25, 2020 at 05:55PM
https://ift.tt/2Y0ZrvA

White House officials are discussing plans to replace HHS Secretary Alex Azar - CNN
Top stories - Google News
https://ift.tt/2FLTecc
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update

Bagikan Berita Ini