Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
Understanding the President’s Cabinet: HHS Secretary
Understanding the President’s Cabinet: HHS Secretary
Jan 17, 2026 3:06 PM

Note: This is the eighth in a weekly series of explanatory posts on the officials and agencies included in the President’s Cabinet. See the series introductionhere.

Cabinet position:Secretary of Health and Human Services

Department:Department of Health and Human Services

Current Secretary: Thomas E. Price, M.D.

Succession:The HHS secretary is twelfth in the presidential line of succession.

Department Mission:“It is the mission of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans. We fulfill that mission by providing for effective health and human services and fostering advances in medicine, public health, and social services.” (Source)

Organization: The HHS includes 10 operating agencies: Food and Drug Administration, Health Resources and Services Administration, Indian Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Administration for Children and Families, and Administration for Community Living.

Department Budget:$1,150 billion

Number of employees:Approximately 80,000

Primary Duties of the Secretary:The HHS Secretary oversees the largest civilian department within the federal government and advises the President on health-related policy issues. The HHS Secretary also oversees Medicaid and Medicare, the two largest insurance programs in the U.S.

Secretary Info

Secretary:Thomas E. Price, M.D.

Previous occupation: Dr. Price was an orthopaedic surgeon and assistant professor of orthopedic surgery.

Education: Bachelor and Doctor of Medicine degrees from the University of Michigan

Previous government experience:Prior to ing HHS Secretary, Dr. Price was the U.S. Representative for Georgia’s 6th congressional district.

Religious Affiliation: Presbyterian

Notable achievements:

Chairman of the House Budget Committee

Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee

Chairman of the Republican Study Committee

Notable quotes:

On representatives in government: “The American people need to know that there are folks here fighting as hard as they can for individual liberty, economic freedom, appropriate national security and the fundamental moral values that have made our nation the greatest nation in the history of mankind.”

On Obamacare: “Congressional Democrats and the Obama administration blatantly ignored the voices of the American people and rammed through a hyper-partisan piece of legislation that will have a disastrous effect on our nation’s health care system.”

On replacing Obamacare: “You can’t just change [Obamacare] overnight … What we believe is important is to allow individuals voluntarily to move to the kind of health coverage that they seek for themselves and for their families. We’re not going to force anybody to do anything like the Obama administration has done.”

Previous and ing posts in this series:Secretary of State,Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Secretary of Homeland Security

Previous Article：Radio Free Acton: Anne Rathbone Bradley on the power of economic freedom Next Article：‘Instruction by which we may profit’: A guide to reading Tocqueville’s ‘Democracy in America’ (Part 1)
Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
As You Sow Chases ‘Dark Money’
Your writer has been telling readers for some time now that so-called “religious” shareholder activism is more political than spiritual. I’ve also pointed out time and again that the priests, nuns, clergy, and religious affiliated with such shareholder groups as As You Sow are opposed to corporate donations to political activities only when it suits them. This last point was clarified recently by events in Arizona. First Affirmative Investments and Calvert Investments joined AYS in an attempt to force Arizona...
Why Thieves Hate Free Markets
Many people believe that market economies create a dog-eat-dog environment full of human conflict and struggle. But as Prof. Aeon Skoble explains, petition in markets encourages people to cooperate with one another for mutual benefit. (Via: Cafe Hayek) ...
The Rise and Fall of a Detroit Neighborhood
If you want to see what happens when a government fails its basic responsibilities of maintaining law and order, read this fine and saddening piece by Detroit Free Press columnist John Carlisle, “The last days of Detroit’s Chaldean Town.”In it you’ll encounterthe fraying of the town’s social architecture built around faith, family, work, and government. At a conference a few weeks ago I was involved in a discussion about the ‘worst’ jobs we had ever had. Mine was cleaning the...
How is that $70,000 Minimum Wage Working Out? Not So Well
They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. What they don’t often mention is that, like a parade route, both sides of that road are crowded with well-wishers cheering you on. In a country where we give children “participation trophies” for merely showing up and “doing their best,” it’s not surprising that we applaud business leaders simply for “trying to make a difference.” As long as their intentions are good, why should we criticism their efforts? I...
6 Quotes: Milton Friedman on freedom and economics
Aristotle has often been described as the philosopher mon sense. Similarly, Milton Friedman, who would have been 103 years old today, could be described as the economist mon sense. Friedman’s writings are often so clear and straightforward (unusual for modern economists) that when reading him you often find yourself wondering how anyone could disagree. Even the uber-liberal Paul Krugman, admits that Friedman was “One of the most important economic thinkers of all time…” In honor of his birthday, here are...
Lopsided Outrage: Why Cecil The Lion Is Easier To Fight For Than Our Fellow Humans
We’ve seen lots mentary on the lopsided outrage over the inhumane death of Cecil the Lion — how the incidenthas inspired far higher levels of fervor and indignation than the brutal systemic barbarism of the #PPSellsBabyParts controversy orthe tragically unjust murder of Samuel Dubose. At first, I was inclined to shrug offthis claim, thinking, “You can feel pointed grief about one while still feeling empathyabout the other.” Or, “the facts of the Cecil case are perhaps clearer to more people.”...
European Flood: What Will The Damage Be?
No, it’s not a regular flood. It’s a flood of immigrants – some legal, some not. Europe is getting swamped; what’s the damage going to be? The American Interest reports that the Italian Coast Guard rescued almost 2,000 people over the weekend, bringing the number of immigrants to Italy this year alone to 90,000 (170,000 last year). The financial strain for Italy and other EU nations is ing more and more apparent. Manyof the migrants keep making their own wayto...
General Mills ‘Stung’ by Activist Shareholders
The religious shareholder activists over at As You Sow, Clean Yield Asset Management, and Trillium Asset Management are all abuzz over mitment made by General Mills to adhere to the White House Pollinator Health Task Force strategy on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides (hereafter referred to as neonics). AYS submitted a proxy shareholder resolution to the Minneapolis-based cereal giant this past spring, seeking: Shareholders request that, within six months of the 2015 annual meeting, the Board publish a report, at...
Why is the State Department Protecting Countries Involved in Human Trafficking?
There are more slaves today than were seized from Africa in four centuries of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In fact, there are more slaves in the world today than at any other point in human history, with anestimated 21 million in bondageacross the globe. Modern-day slavery, also referred to as “trafficking in persons,” or “human trafficking,” describes the act of recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person pelled labor mercial sex acts through the use of force, fraud, or...
Travel For The Greater Good
It’s a rare person who doesn’t like to travel. It’s exciting and fun to see new things, whether it’s a natural phenomenon or a man-made wonder. Some like to travel for the food: local specialties and exotic fare. Travel is good: it broadens our horizons, gives us new ways of seeing our world and often leads us to new friendships. But can travel be more than that? Can it do more good than simply what we gain from it? Yes,...
Related Classification
RELIGION & LIBERTY
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
About
Terms and Conditions Privacy policy Cookie Settings Contact Us
Services
Login register
mreligion RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE RELIGION & LIBERTY
Links
zpostcode Recruit weather mreligion Yellowpages sport constellation shopping name game directory literature Word tour furnish Lottery tftnews lyrics News digital car dir Edu Finance
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved