Reports that Trump may fire HHS leader Azar are ‘fake news,’ president says

President Donald Trump pushed back Sunday evening on reports the White House is considering whether to replace Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar as “Fake News.”

The Washington Post, along with other news outlets, reported early Sunday that White House officials are discussing possible replacements for Azar as frustrations have grown over his handling of the coronavirus crisis earlier this year, and the uproar that followed his removal of a top vaccine official in his agency last week.

Azar was an executive for Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. for more than a decade, including president of the U.S. division from 2012 to 2017.

Five aides familiar with the talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the situation told The Post that the president had not yet weighed in. Trump did that publicly Sunday evening.

“Reports that H.H.S. Secretary @AlexAzar is going to be “fired” by me are Fake News,” he tweeted at 5:53 p.m. “The Lamestream Media knows this, but they are desperate to create the perception of chaos & havoc in the minds of the public.”

During the past several weeks, Azar has rarely appeared at the daily White House coronavirus news briefings and has been largely sidelined from the response. He oversaw that effort until Feb. 26, when he was replaced by Vice President Mike Pence amid anger over the continued lack of coronavirus testing and conflicting messages from health officials about the threat of the virus, which has claimed more than 54,000 Americans’ lives.

His agency remains responsible for crucial aspects of the pandemic response, such as leading the search for treatments and vaccines and distributing $100 billion worth of relief to hospitals that was allocated by Congress.

One senior administration official with knowledge of the discussions said Trump has no deep affection for Azar but is unlikely to change secretaries as the coronavirus continues to rage. There is also concern about having a nomination fight in an election year on an issue – health care – that many Trump advisers see as a political weakness.

Representatives for the White House and the HHS had denied that Azar’s job was in jeopardy.

“The Department of Health and Human Services, under the leadership of Secretary Azar, continues to lead on a number of the President’s priorities. Any speculation about personnel is irresponsible and a distraction from our whole-of-government response to covid-19,” the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement.

“Secretary Azar is busy responding to a global, public health crisis and doesn’t have time for palace intrigue,” HHS spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley said in a statement.

The Wall Street Journal and Politico first reported discussions about Azar’s possible removal Saturday.

Azar has long had a tenuous relationship with many White House officials, including battles over the administration’s efforts to curb drug prices and his aggressive proposals to address the vaping crisis, which spurred backlash from the president’s base. Azar’s conflict with his Medicare chief, Seema Verma, grew so acrimonious late last year that Trump and Pence intervened. But presidential and White House frustrations with Azar has been exacerbated by the pandemic and turmoil at the health agency.

Trump and White House aides were frustrated at recent reports that Azar’s efforts to warn the president about the coronavirus in January went unheeded. On April 12, Trump tweeted, “I was criticized for moving too fast when I issued the China ban, long before most others wanted to do so. @SecAzar told me nothing until later.”

This month, the White House installed Michael Caputo, a staunch Trump ally, to run communications at the agency.

Azar removed Rick Bright as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority last week and reassigned him to a narrower role at the National Institutes of Health. Trump grew especially angry on Wednesday after Bright issued a statement through his attorneys that he had been pushed out of his job in retaliation for resisting efforts to “provide an unproven drug on demand to the American public,” referencing the anti-malarial medications that Trump has repeatedly pushed. Three senior administration officials said discussions about Bright’s removal had been underway for months at the HHS because of internal conflicts and his job performance.

The Bright saga caught Trump and White House officials off guard, three senior administration officials said, because Azar told them he was promoting Bright. Aides were angry at being blindsided by the fallout.

“Dr. Rick Bright will transfer the skills he has applied as Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to the National Institutes of Health, as part of a bold plan to accelerate the development and deployment of novel point-of-care testing platforms,” the HHS said about Bright’s transfer last week.

The HHS department Bright’s stated reasons for leaving, noting he requested the authorization from the Food and Drug Administration that had enabled officials to add the medications to the national stockpile of emergency medical equipment and medications.

On Thursday, Bright’s attorneys said he planned to file a whistleblower complaint to the HHS inspector general. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., chairwoman of the House Energy and Commerce’s health subcommittee, said last week that she planned to hold hearings on Bright’s departure and call on Azar, as well as Robert Kadlec, Bright’s boss and assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the department.

Shortly after Trump’s tweet Sunday, Azar responded with one of his own: “The media continues to smear @POTUS and his Administration’s fight against #COVID19 and grossly overlook the historic whole-of-government response that we’ve been delivering under the President’s leadership,” he said.