Trump picks Tom Price for health secretary

On 28 November 2016 President-elect Donald Trump's team said he had chosen Tom Price, and the next day formally announced he would nominate Price, chairman of the House Budget Committee, as secretary of health and human services. The choice signalled the incoming administration's plan to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, which Price had repeatedly tried to replace.

Trump’s choice of a health-law repeal advocate

On 29 November 2016, President-elect Donald Trump publicly announced that he intended to nominate Georgia Republican congressman Tom Price as secretary of Health and Human Services. The announcement followed reporting on the decision late on 28 November. Price was an orthopedic surgeon who had chaired the House Budget Committee and advocated proposals to replace the Affordable Care Act. His selection communicated an early policy priority for the incoming administration before he had any authority to change federal health rules.

The previous Democratic administration under Barack Obama had expanded insurance access through the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Price criticised the law's mandates and proposed more market-oriented insurance arrangements. Opponents warned that restructuring subsidies and Medicaid financing could reduce access to coverage for patients with limited resources, while supporters expected lower regulatory burdens and greater consumer choice. These competing predictions made the intended nomination part of the health-policy realignment debate.

In January 2017, senators questioned Price about his investment transactions and the implications of his proposals for Medicare and Medicaid. On 10 February 2017, the Senate confirmed him 52–47 and he assumed office. Those later decisions distinguish the 29 November announcement from the completed cabinet appointment. Trump could nominate a secretary but not bypass the Senate's consent requirement for this post. The choice also mattered politically because Price had served as an influential Republican legislator who understood the mechanics of congressional health law. The named appointment and his recorded policy positions are facts; subsequent changes in insurance enrollment or medical spending cannot be attributed to the nomination alone. The Senate confirmation process also unfolded alongside debates over the incoming administration’s justice nomination, including Jeff Sessions, which presented separate questions of civil rights and executive accountability.