- Senate Confirms Alex Azar as Trump's New Health Secretary Associated Press by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar — President Donald Trump's second health secretary won Senate approval Wednesday. Alex Azar will take over a sprawling department shaken by his predecessor's early exit. The GOP-majority Senate voted 55–43, largely along party lines, to confirm the former drug company and government executive to join the Trump cabinet. A 50-year-old Ivy League-educated lawyer, Azar says he has four main priorities for the Health and Human Services Department: help curb the cost of prescription drugs; make health insurance more affordable and available; continue bipartisan efforts to focus Medicare payments on quality; and confront the opioid addiction epidemic. His pharmaceutical ties drew opposition from consumer groups. Most Democrats and even some Republicans questioned whether he can deliver on his promise to help lower drug costs.