Acting HHS chief: Opioid epidemic is 'the crisis of our time'

Eric Hargan is about to get a demotion, and he is just fine with that.

The acting secretary of Health and Human Services is more than thrilled to go back to the position he originally held when President Trump tapped him to lead the agency after the former secretary, Tom Price, resigned over scrutiny of his travel revealed a taste for the excess.

“I was confirmed for my job as deputy secretary, and four days later, I was appointed to be the acting secretary,” he said of the agency whose duties include overseeing drug development, public health efforts, Obamacare, and food safety.

Once Alex Azar, the president’s new choice to run HHS, is confirmed, Hargan said he will happily go back to his original job.

Hargan spoke to the Washington Examiner as Azar faced his first Senate hearing Wednesday to succeed Price. Hargan has held the position since early October, but this is certainly not his first rodeo at HHS. From 2003 to 2007, he served here under former President George W. Bush.