Alex Azar

Law career

Azar with Ken Starr and Brett Kavanaugh in the 1990s

After law school, from 1991 to 1992, Azar served as a law clerk for Judge Alex Kozinski of the United States Court of Appeals for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Azar was fired after six weeks, and was replaced in Kozinski's chambers by Brett Kavanaugh.^[8] Azar subsequently clerked for the remainder of the term for Judge J. Michael Luttig of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. From 1992 to 1993, he served as a law clerk for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States.^[7]

From 1994 to 1996, he served as an Associate Independent Counsel for Kenneth W. Starr in the United States Office of the Independent Counsel, where he worked on the first two years of the investigation into the Whitewater controversy.^[9][10] At the time of Azar's appointment, he was working as an associate in Starr's law firm.^[9]

Between 1996 and 2001, Azar worked for Wiley Rein, a Washington, D.C. law firm, where he achieved partner status.^[11]

Health and Human Services

Official Deputy Secretary portrait

On August 3, 2001, Azar was confirmed to be the General Counsel of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.^[12][13] Azar played an important role in responding to the 2001 anthrax attacks, making sure there was a vaccine ready for smallpox, and dealing with outbreaks of SARS and influenza.^[7] On July 22, 2005, Azar was confirmed as the United States Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services.^[14][15] He was twice confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate.

Working under Secretary Mike Leavitt, Azar supervised all operations of HHS with an annual budget of over $1 trillion. Azar led the development and approval of all HHS regulations, led U.S. government efforts to encourage worldwide pharmaceutical and medical device innovation, and was in charge of the HHS response to an initiative implemented by President George W. Bush to improve government performance.^[7]

Azar resigned in January 2007.^[16]

Eli Lilly & Co.

In June 2007, Azar was hired by Eli Lilly and Company chief executive officer Sidney Taurel to be the company’s top lobbyist and spokesman as its Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Communications.^[7][17] Azar left the position after Barack Obama was elected and the company wanted a member of the Democratic Party to have the position.^[7]

In April 2009, Azar became Vice President of Lilly’s U.S. Managed Healthcare Services organization and its Puerto Rico affiliate.^[18] In 2009, the company paid $1.415 billion to settle criminal charges regarding its promotion of antipsychotic drug Zyprexa (olanzapine) for off-label uses between 1999 and 2005.^[17]

Effective January 1, 2012, Azar became President of Lilly USA, LLC, the largest division of Eli Lilly and Company, and was responsible for the company's entire operations in the United States.^[18] Prices for drugs rose substantially under Azar's leadership.^[19] In connection with the position, Azar served on the board of directors of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, a pharmaceutical lobby.^[20]

In January 2017, Azar resigned from Eli Lilly.^[21] He also resigned from the board of directors of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization.

Nomination

On November 13, 2017, President Trump announced via Twitter that he would nominate Azar to be the next United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.^[20][22][23] Azar was confirmed on January 24, 2018, with a vote of 55–43.^[24]

Tenure

He was sworn in by Vice President Pence on January 29, 2018.

Healthcare policy

Azar has been a critic of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and predicted in 2017 that "There will be a piece of legislation passes this year that is called the repeal of Obamacare. I don't know what's going to be in the substance of it, but there will be a piece of legislation that says that."^[22] Also regarding the ACA, Azar said that the Department of Health and Human Services has latitude to "make it work a little better."^[19]

Azar opposes abortion rights. In a written response to Senator Patty Murray regarding future HHS policy, he said that, "The mission of HHS is to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans, and this includes the unborn.”^[25]

According to The New York Times, Azar differed with his predecessor Tom Price in terms of their approach to regulations. Writing in May 2018, The Times said, "in a sharp break from his predecessor — and from most Trump cabinet secretaries — he seems to be relishing the chance to write new regulations, rather than just crossing out Obama-era ones."^[26]