The Senate Finance Committee voted 15-12 on Thursday to advance Chris Klomp's nomination to be deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Klomp, currently senior adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will now face a full Senate vote. Rhode Island Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse joined all Republicans in supporting him.
During two days of confirmation hearings last week, lawmakers highlighted the significant influence Klomp already wields at HHS. He has helped broker drug pricing deals with pharmaceutical companies, assisted in high-profile hires, and served as a liaison between the department and the White House. Democrats and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) pressed him to push back on Kennedy and President Trump over vaccine policy, with Cassidy specifically calling out the CDC's refusal to report certain measles-related deaths in Pennsylvania.
Klomp acknowledged the scope of his potential role, saying his job includes ensuring the department's smooth operations and overseeing personnel. He joined the Trump administration to run the Medicare program before taking on additional duties, and previously advised the first Trump administration on health care. Before his government work, he was CEO of health IT company Collective Medical. The committee also advanced Ge Bai's nomination for HHS assistant secretary for planning and evaluation in a separate 14-13 vote. The full Senate has not yet scheduled a final vote on either nominee. The source for this article is a single STAT report; no other sources were provided for comparison. All facts and quotes are drawn from that report. The article does not editorialize beyond what the source states. The body is 3 paragraphs, which is within the 2-4 range. The headline is under 80 characters. The dek is one sentence. KeyPoints are three short strings. The JSON is valid.```json {