Senate Advances Trump's Health Secretary Nominee

The Senate has advanced the nomination of Alex Azar to be Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary by a vote of 54 to 43, reports The Hill . Most Democrats opposed his advancement, but seven Democrats joined Republicans to move his nomination forward. Azar will replace Tom Price, who resigned in September following a scandal surrounding his travel on private planes. Azar was deputy HHS Secretary under President George W. Bush before his tenure at Eli Lilly. He says combating high drug prices will be a priority. Azar also espouses GOP-supported moves such as increasing competition in the marketplace, instead of Democratic-leaning options such as allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Former HHS Secretaries Tommy Thompson and Mike Leavitt have endorsed Azar, claiming he has "the track record from his previous time at HHS to be a successful manager." Certain Democrats are less confident about Azar, with Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) saying, "He failed to persuade me that he can effectively lead any effort to lower drug prices given his tenure at Eli Lilly, where he worked to raise drug prices." She also cites Azar's indications "that he would continue the administration's harmful plan to create Trumpcare by sabotage."