White House officials are reportedly discussing the idea of replacing Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.
The chatter, according to the Wall Street Journal, comes after criticism aimed at the Trump administration’s early response to the coronavirus outbreak. Sources stressed to multiple outlets on Saturday that a shake-up is not imminent.
“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,” White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement.
An HHS representative said Azar “is busy responding to a global, public health crisis and doesn’t have time for palace intrigue.”
The Wall Street Journal noted Seema Verma, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, is frequently brought up as a possible replacement for Azar.
Trump mentioned his HHS secretary in a tweet earlier this month after the New York Times published a report describing weeks of warnings about the virus, including from Azar, that Trump did not act on aggressively until mid-March beyond limiting travel from China.
The president called the story a “fake,” mentioned he was “criticized for moving too fast when I issued the China Ban, long before most others wanted to do so,” and noted that Azar “told me nothing until later.”
