A Lack of BeliefAlex Azar had sounded assured on the finish of January. At a information convention within the hulking H.H.S. headquarters in Washi
A Lack of Belief
Alex Azar had sounded assured on the finish of January. At a information convention within the hulking H.H.S. headquarters in Washington, he mentioned he had the federal government’s response to the brand new coronavirus below management, mentioning high-ranking jobs he had held within the division in the course of the 2003 SARS outbreak and different infectious threats.
“I do know this playbook effectively,” he instructed reporters.
A Yale-trained lawyer who as soon as served as the highest lawyer on the well being division, Mr. Azar had spent a decade as a high government at Eli Lilly, one of many world’s largest drug firms. However he caught Mr. Trump’s consideration partially due to different credentials: After legislation college, Mr. Azar was a clerk for a number of the nation’s most conservative judges, together with Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court docket. And for 2 years, he labored as Ken Starr’s deputy on the Clinton Whitewater investigation.
As Mr. Trump’s second well being secretary, confirmed originally of 2018, Mr. Azar has been fast to go with the president and deal with the problems he cares about: decreasing drug costs and combating opioid habit. On Feb. 6 — even because the W.H.O. introduced that there have been greater than 28,000 coronavirus instances across the globe — Mr. Azar was within the second row within the White Home’s East Room, demonstrating his loyalty to the president as Mr. Trump claimed vindication from his impeachment acquittal the day earlier than and lashed out at “evil” lawmakers and the F.B.I.’s “high scum.”
As public consideration on the virus risk intensified in January and February, Mr. Azar grew more and more pissed off concerning the harsh highlight on his division and the leaders of businesses who reported to him, in keeping with individuals conversant in the response to the virus contained in the businesses.
Described as a prickly boss by some administration officers, Mr. Azar has had a longstanding feud with Seema Verma, the Medicare and Medicaid chief, who just lately turned a daily presence at Mr. Trump’s televised briefings on the pandemic. Mr. Azar didn’t embrace Dr. Hahn on the virus activity power he led, although a number of the F.D.A. commissioner’s aides participated in H.H.S. conferences on the topic.
And tensions grew between the secretary and Dr. Redfield because the testing difficulty continued. Mr. Azar and Dr. Redfield have been on the telephone as usually as a half-dozen occasions a day. However all through February, because the C.D.C. check faltered, Mr. Azar turned satisfied that Dr. Redfield’s company was offering him with inaccurate details about testing that the secretary repeated publicly, in keeping with a number of administration officers.
In a single occasion, Mr. Azar appeared on Sunday morning information packages and mentioned that greater than 3,600 individuals had been examined for the virus. In truth, the true quantity was a lot smaller as a result of many sufferers had been examined a number of occasions, an error the C.D.C. needed to right in congressional testimony that week. One well being division official mentioned Mr. Azar was repeatedly assured that the C.D.C.’s check can be broadly obtainable inside per week or 10 days, solely to be given the identical promise per week later.