Exclusive / Klomp, nominated for No. 2 health post, faces Senate gauntlet - Semafor

Democrats want to cast Chris Klomp as anything but a moderating force within Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services this week during two Senate hearings on his nomination to become Kennedy’s No. 2.

But the genial official — who won the trust of the White House negotiating Trump’s drug pricing deals and playing a key role reshaping leadership teams across HHS — has quietly met with nearly 35 senators ahead of his confirmation hearings before the Senate finance and health panels, according to a person familiar with the outreach.

A Democratic aide said that progressives would try to use the hearings to dispel what they see as a false narrative that Klomp is a bridge-builder who was elevated at the behest of the White House to restrain Kennedy’s anti-vaccine impulses.

But while Klomp is unlikely to draw public support from Democrats, behind closed doors, many lawmakers view him as one of President Donald Trump’s most competent health officials.