Rumors swirled about FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb being considered as a potential successor to recently departed Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, but Gottlieb says he wants to stay in his current role.
“I feel like I want to continue to follow through on the policies we’ve put out and it’s where I think I can be most effective,” Gottlieb told Reuters. He added that it has been historically difficult to fill the FDA commissioner and continuity is important for the agency.
Price resigned from the the Health and Human Services Secretary role last month after racking up at least $400,000 in travel bills for chartered flights, thus undermining President Trump’s promise to “drain the swamp.”
Other names mentioned besides Gottlieb’s include Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal.