President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has tapped Heather Flick, a former senior health official from Trump’s first administration and an ally to top Trump loyalist Harmeet Dhillon, to be Health and Human Services Secretary-nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s chief of staff.
Flick previously served in multiple top roles at the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department during the first Trump administration, including acting general counsel, acting secretary for administration, and senior adviser to then-HHS Secretary Alex Azar.
Flick has been working closely with Kennedy over the last few weeks as an informal chief of staff, and the appointment has yet to be made public. The Trump-Vance transition team did not respond to a request for confirmation.
Flick’s selection comes amid rumblings from some of Kennedy’s allies that he could advance an agenda that is not completely in line with the Trump world, but rather more centered around Kennedy’s priorities. However, critics have questioned Kennedy’s ability to handle major crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, citing his history of pushing conspiracy theories about vaccines and other medical issues.
As Kennedy’s chief of staff, Flick will be tasked with helping him clean up some of these criticisms and advance his agenda at HHS. A former FDA official noted that a chief of staff can become very involved in high-profile matters, depending on the HHS Secretary’s level of involvement.