#POLITICS JANUARY 17, 2018 / 3:01 PM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO

Senate committee advances Azar nomination as health secretary

Reuters Staff
3 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday voted to move forward the nomination of Alex Azar, a former drug industry executive and lobbyist whom President Donald Trump has tapped to be the next secretary of Health and Human Services.

The Senate Finance Committee voted 15-12 to advance Azar’s nomination, with all but one Democrat opposing. To receive final confirmation Azar will have to receive a majority vote in the 100-seat Senate, which Republicans control with 51 seats.

Among other issues, Azar would be charged with overseeing the Trump administration’s response to the opioid epidemic, and its efforts to weaken the Affordable Care Act, former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement, commonly called Obamacare.

Azar spent about a decade at U.S. pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly & Co, including five years as president of its U.S. unit. He left the company in 2017.

During a Senate hearing last week, Democrats questioned how seriously he would work to make prescription drugs more affordable - an issue that Trump has repeatedly promised to address - and pointed to a handful of Lilly drugs whose prices more than doubled under Azar’s watch.

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