Democrats grill top Kennedy ally nominated to be HHS no. 2

Democrats grill top Kennedy ally nominated to be HHS no. 2

The nominee to be the No. 2 official at the Department of Health and Human Services faced pointed questions from Senate Democrats during his confirmation hearing Tuesday in front of the Senate Finance Committee.

Chris Klomp, nominated to be the deputy secretary of HHS , would be the agency’s second-in-command behind Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. Democrats pressed him on how closely he would hew to Kennedy’s controversial vaccine views.

Klomp said his job is to “ensure smooth operations” and to earn people’s trust. “To sweep questions under the rug of those who are skeptical will not solve the problem.”

Klomp wholeheartedly endorsed the safety of vaccines , but noted he was not an immunization expert.

Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also pressed Klomp on President Trump’s Medicaid “most favored nation” drug pricing deals, grilling him on why the deals are so secretive . Klomp was instrumental in helping negotiate the agreements.

“You’d think this administration would be tripping over themselves to make the details public if they actually helped Americans who are struggling to afford their prescription drugs,” said Wyden, the panel’s top Democrat.

Warren demanded to know what the drug companies would be getting in return for their agreements to lower prices.

“I want to know what was given away in these contracts,” Warren, said, including whether drug companies received tariff relief, exemptions from drug pricing demonstrations in Medicare, fast-track FDA approval, and higher prices abroad instead of lower prices in the U.S.

Klomp said the details needed to remain confidential to avoid releasing trade secrets and other proprietary information.

“I want to see what the deal is, and until then, you can stop telling us it was all great for the American people, but you just refused to show us the receipts,” Warren said. “That’s not how oversight works.”

Democrats have been skeptical of the administration’s drug pricing deals, and the questions from Warren and Wyden show an oversight direction lawmakers could take if they were to win control of the Senate.

Welcome to The Hill’s Healthcare newsletter , we’re Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.

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