Trump seeks new health chief after Price resigned

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is seeking a new health secretary to take the place of Tom Price, ousted after an outcry over flying on costly private charters for official travel.

The Health and Human Services chief oversees a $1 trillion department, with 80,000 employees and jurisdiction over major insurance programs, advanced medical research, drug and food safety, public health, and disease prevention.

The administration will also have to contend with renewed scrutiny of Cabinet members' travel. Following news reports about Price, the House Oversight and Government Reform committee launched a governmentwide investigation of travel by top political appointees.

Trump has named Don J. Wright, a deputy assistant secretary of health, to serve as acting secretary. Mentioned as a possible permanent successor to Price is Seema Verma, a protege of Vice President Mike Pence. She now leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an HHS division that runs health insurance programs covering more than 130 million Americans.

Verma's immediate challenge is to manage the 2018 open enrollment season under the Obama-era Affordable Care Act, which Trump and the GOP-led Congress have been unable to repeal. Another possible HHS candidate is FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who won some bipartisan support in his confirmation and is well known in policy, government and industry circles.

Price, 62, a former GOP congressman from the Atlanta suburbs, resigned Friday afternoon. His pattern of costly trips triggered investigations that overshadowed the administration's agenda and angered his boss. Price's regrets and a partial repayment couldn't save his job.