Illustration: Camille MacMillin/STAT; Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Chelsea Cirruzzo is a Washington correspondent at STAT, where she covers HHS. You can reach Chelsea on Signal at chelseacirruzzo.42.

WASHINGTON — Top Trump administration officials have elevated a new team of health policy experts who they hope will carry a more politically popular health agenda through the midterm elections, including a former health IT exec and a Trump administration veteran.

They’ve also ousted others: Health and Human Services Department Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill and General Counsel Mike Stuart are both expected to take new roles within the administration, but not at the health agencies. 

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The new direction for HHS comes as an attempt to smooth over dysfunction at the agencies, STAT has learned, but also as a way of steering the department toward policies considered “wins” among the public, such as those related to healthy food and drug pricing. 

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