White House officials have soured on HHS Secretary Alex Azar, a deepening quarrel that threatens to derail Trump’s health care agenda ahead of 2020
The simmering clash has pitted the ideological bent of officials like Grogan and Mulvaney — who see themselves as upholding Trump’s hard-line agenda — against Azar, a conservative but pragmatic former George W. Bush administration official.on a recent decision to limit researchers’ access to fetal tissue obtained from abortion. Azar objected to the administration’s plan to ban government scientists at the NIH from doing such research.
"The friction just got worse and worse over time behind the president’s back," said one person familiar with the matter, who described the dynamic as constant, day-to-day “combat" between Azar and Grogan, who also worked in the pharmaceutical industry. “It’s Joe, Russ [Vought, acting OMB director], Mick, the whole cabal … they’re all fighting him,” said one former official who’s been in tense meetings with Azar and his White House counterparts. “They’ve slowed his rules and made everything difficult.”
Azar also has strong relationships in several other corners of the White House, three individuals say, including Jared Kushner — the president's son-in-law and close adviser — and First Lady Melania Trump, who has traveled with Azar to the border and to tout the administration’s opioid response. The Trump administration also has come together on several health priorities, including a rule released last weekto expand health coverage options for small businesses.
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