The HHS has elevated four members of its management team to “accelerate adoption” of President Donald Trump’s healthcare agenda and the goals of the Make America Healthy Again movement, the department announced on Thursday.
Chris Klomp, the current Medicare director, will become chief counselor of the HHS, overseeing the department’s operations in what appears to be a de facto chief of staff role.
John Brooks, the CMS’ deputy administrator, will be senior counselor for CMS-related issues. Meanwhile, two senior Food and Drug Administration officials, Kyle Diamantas and Grace Graham, will be senior counselors on FDA issues.
All four will continue to serve in their current roles in addition to advising HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on agency matters, according to the release.
An HHS spokesperson did not respond to questions for this story, including why the leaders are being elevated. A statement from Kennedy says he is bringing “battle-tested, principled leaders onto my immediate team ... to help us move faster and go further as we work to Make America Healthy Again.”
According to CNN, the White House is looking to tighten control of the HHS’ operations and messaging in advance of November’s midterm elections.
Republicans are expected to underperform in the midterms, given the sinking popularity of the president and his policies, especially his failure to bring down prices as promised. Concerns about a blue wave have coincided with comments from Trump that he wants to “nationalize” elections and “take over the voting” in some places — counter to the Constitution, which gives states authority over holding elections for federal offices.
As the GOP pushes to retain control of the House and Senate, the party’s midterm messaging will rely heavily on promoting health policies promulgated by the HHS, including “most favored nation” drug pricing deals and changes to nutrition guidelines, per CNN, which cited sources familiar.
According to that report, Thursday’s leadership shakeup is meant to help the administration sell that message more effectively, by cementing better top-down oversight of the HHS — a goal that’s been challenged by Kennedy’s abrupt firings and in some cases re-hirings of top agency leaders.
However, campaigning too heavily on the HHS and its controversial leader may be a political gamble, given Kennedy’s unorthodox tenure at the massive health department — especially his push to overhaul the U.S. vaccine system.
A KFF poll late last year found 59% of Americans disprove of Kennedy’s moves as HHS secretary, while 62% disprove of his handling of vaccine policy.
