The frontrunner to replace Tom Price as Secretary of Health and Human Services was the architect of Indiana’s Medicaid expansion under Obamacare and is considered a protégé of Vice President Mike Pence.
Seema Verma, who as the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is responsible for administering the Affordable Care Act, played a leading role for the White House in efforts to repeal the law this year, including the attempt that failed last week.
Her name is reportedly atop the short list for candidates to take over the sprawling department, which has a $1 trillion budget, 80,000 employees and jurisdiction over a swath of health care issues.
President Trump could signal how hard he plans to push future attempts to do away with Obamacare through his choice to fill the position made vacant by Price’s ousting on Friday.
An orthopedic surgeon who was serving as a congressman from Georgia when he was tapped to head HHS, Price resigned Friday following revelations he chartered private jets and used military aircraft to rack up $1 million in travel expenses in just eight months.
Published reports say Trump was already unhappy with Price over the former secretary’s lackluster efforts to get an Obamacare repeal through Congress, and the travel flap was an excuse to remove him.
Verma earned praise for her interactions with Republican lawmakers during the repeal efforts. But she is far from the only contender — media reports name a dozen people being considered for the post.
On the short list is Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb — who, like Verma, got his job after clearing the Senate confirmation process.
Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, a Trump favorite and the only cabinet nominee to be unanimously confirmed, is also a leading contender. But Shulkin, a physician, may be caught up in a similar travel scandal after it was revealed he attended Wimbledon and went sightseeing in London while on official business this summer in Europe.
Also rumored for consideration are former New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg, talk show host and heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz; Florida Governor Rick Scott, a former hospital executive; and Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a longtime critic of Obamacare in the House. The list also includes two 2016 presidential candidates — former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who worked on health policy academically and professionally before entering politics.
Housing Secretary Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and another rival for the 2016 nomination, may also be under consideration. Some reports earlier this year said Carson turned down the job when Trump was first filling his cabinet.
Trump may also choose to wait before filling the post, as he has done with the Department of Homeland Security, which has been run by an acting secretary since John Kelly left in July to become White House chief of staff.
Trump’s interim HHS secretary, Don Wright, was acting assistant secretary of health until Friday. Wright is also reportedly being considered to fill the role permanently.