Trump veteran Flick selected as HHS chief of staff
Flick would help Kennedy, above, oversee HHS. Photo: Jon Cherry/Getty Images
President-elect Trump's transition team has selected veteran operative Heather Flick as chief of staff for HHS, with the goal of helping Secretary-designate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. run the sprawling bureaucracy.
Why it matters: Flick is an HHS veteran from Trump's first term and would be a key point person on major overhauls of health programs and vaccine policy, as well as on initiatives aimed at chronic disease.
Between the lines: Flick's appointment is a sign that the leadership of HHS will not be staffed entirely by people directly from Kennedy's circle, and that more establishment Republican voices could also have a seat at the table.
She served as acting general counsel and acting assistant secretary for administration at HHS under former secretaries Tom Price and Alex Azar.
- Her new appointment was announced by her law firm, Binnall Law Group.
- She also was a counsel for election integrity for the RNC during the just-concluded election cycle, per her LinkedIn.
Flashback: After leaving HHS in 2019, Flick was hired as an outside counsel to investigate allegations of sex discrimination, Axios scooped at the time.
- The investigation was a sign of how the working relationship had deteriorated between Secretary Alex Azar and then-CMS administrator Seema Verma. It focused on whether anyone in HHS leadership had discriminated against Verma because of her gender, or otherwise created a hostile work environment.
State of play: Flick's selection comes as Kennedy awaits dates for confirmation hearings with the Senate Finance and HELP committees.
- Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo told Axios last week that he expected his panel's hearing could happen at the end of this month.
- Other Trump nominees have been facing some scheduling delays because of paperwork issues.
