It’s another year in the revolving door administration known as the Trump presidency, and that means a new Health and Human Services Secretary serving in President Donald Trump’s cabinet.
Former Georgia Congressman Tom Price — the Trump administration’s first HHS Secretary — resigned in disgrace after being caught wasting hundreds of thousands of tax payer dollars chartering private jets to take him to his meetings. Now, we are about to embark on a new era under recently the recently confirmed Alex Azar.
So who is this new secretary of Health and Human Services? Here’s everything you need to know:
1. He Worked for the HHS Under George W. Bush in the Early 2000s
According to Scientific American, “Like Trump’s current head of the Food and Drug Administration, Scott Gottlieb, Azar is already familiar with the inner workings of the agency he would run. Azar’s bona fides include serving as the number two official at HHS during the George W. Bush administration, and previously serving as its general counsel.”
2. Then He Became a Drug Company Executive
“Alex Azar, former president of the US arm of Eli Lilly & Co., was confirmed Wednesday as the secretary of health and human services,” NPR reports. “In that role, he’ll oversee the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates prescription drugs including those produced by his former employer. He’ll also oversee Medicare and Medicaid, which together spend hundreds of billions of dollars each year on prescription medications.”