FDA chief plays down talk of succeeding Price at HHS

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, considered a possible candidate to be President Trump’s next health secretary, said Tuesday he thinks he can be “most effective” 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 in an interview.

But Gottlieb did not rule out moving up to the Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary position, declining to say whether he has been in talks about the job.

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“I‘m not going to get into private discussions I might have had around that,” he said.

Gottlieb, along with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma, are seen as leading contenders to head up HHS.

The former secretary, Tom Price, resigned last month after an uproar over his taxpayer-funded travel on private jets.

Gottlieb is seen as a more pragmatic choice, while Verma could signal that Trump wants to keep up the intense battles against ObamaCare.

Other candidates are also in the mix, including former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), who has degrees in biology and public policy and is being pushed by some conservatives.