By Liz Essley Whyte

WASHINGTON -- The White House and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have shaken up the top ranks at his department, a move meant to install more disciplined messengers and smoother operations ahead of the midterm elections.

Kennedy and White House officials tapped Chris Klomp, the head of Medicare and a former healthcare executive, to lead the department as its No. 2 under Kennedy, administration officials said. Klomp will have responsibility for operations and messaging, and he will be aided by at least three other agency lieutenants to take senior counselor roles under him, the officials said.

"We're structuring in such a way that we can move faster and we can make sure the quality is uniform," Klomp said in an interview.

The White House sees the administration's work on drug pricing and some other Make America Healthy Again priorities, such as healthy-eating initiatives, as winning issues that it wants to focus on more as healthcare and affordability become central to the midterms.

"As there's this increased focus on all things healthcare...that means there needs to be increased efficiency and expediency," Klomp said.

"We really want to double down and accelerate the MAHA agenda," said White House spokesman Kush Desai. "HHS is bringing on some more management muscle here."

CNN earlier reported the moves.

Top White House and administration officials had already tried to prod Kennedy's department away from controversial vaccine policies and focus more on its message about healthy food, which is more popular in polls, according to people familiar with the matter.

Klomp won the White House's favor while negotiating drug pricing deals with pharmaceutical companies as part of the administration's "Most Favored Nation" effort, the administration officials said. Trump considers Klomp a good negotiator, according to people familiar with the president's thinking.

Kennedy asked Klomp to take the role in recent days, and senior HHS leaders were summoned to the White House to learn about the changes Thursday, the administration officials said.

The three other senior advisers tapped to help Klomp include John Brooks, who currently heads policy at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; Grace Graham, who leads the Food and Drug Administration's policy office; and Kyle Diamantas, who heads FDA's food division. Brooks will oversee CMS matters, while Graham and Diamantas will have roles managing the FDA.

HHS grant cancellations that had to be rolled back because they were poorly executed were among the reasons the White House and Kennedy wanted to improve the department's operations, people familiar with the matter said. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary's management of his agency has also caused heartburn at the White House.

Former officials who have been critical of Kennedy's department welcomed the moves.

The administration officials said it is unclear where the new structure leaves HHS deputy secretary Jim O'Neill, who is also acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Write to Liz Essley Whyte at liz.whyte@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 12, 2026 18:36 ET (23:36 GMT)

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