Senate Finance committee backs Chris Klomp, advancing him to full Senate vote

WASHINGTON — A key Senate committee on Thursday approved the nomination of top federal health official Chris Klomp to be deputy secretary of health and human services, clearing the way for him to be confirmed by the full Senate. Klomp is currently senior adviser to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He was advanced by the Senate Finance committee in an 15-12 vote. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) joined all Republicans in supporting Klomp. He will now go to the full Senate for a final vote. The committee voted 14-13 to advance Ge Bai’s nomination to be HHS assistant secretary for planning and evaluation. Klomp spent two days last week testifying before Finance and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committees, where lawmakers highlighted the power Klomp wields at HHS and questioned how he might use that power. Klomp has already helped broker drug pricing deals with pharmaceutical companies, aided in high-profile hires, and acted as a liaison between HHS and the White House. During his confirmation hearings, Democrats joined by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who chairs the health committee, repeatedly called on Klomp to push back on his boss, Kennedy, and even President Trump, if he continued to undermine vaccine policy. Cassidy, in particular, pressed Klomp to address the CDC’s refusal to report certain measles-related deaths in Pennsylvania. “People are dying. The American people should know that,” he said. Cassidy had previously threatened to withhold health care nominations if HHS continued its aggressive vaccine overhaul, but Klomp’s nomination was squarely in the hands of the Finance committee, which Cassidy sits on but does not chair. Klomp, in his statements to the committees last week, acknowledged the outsized role he would play in influencing HHS. “Part of my responsibility is to enable the smooth operations of the department. I’m responsible for personnel, among other things,” Klomp told Finance last week. “My job is to make sure that we have everything.” Klomp joined the Trump administration to oversee the Medicare program, before taking on additional duties at HHS. He also advised the first Trump administration on health care matters. Klomp is a health care entrepreneur, and was previously the CEO of health IT company Collective Medical.