CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Former State Senator and US Attorney for Southern West Virginia Mike Stuart is settling into his new role with the Trump administration, serving as general counsel for the Department of Health and Human Services.
Stuart is taking a hands-on approach to the position, working closely with leaders on a variety of issues.
“It’s been a great adventure. I think it’s great for West Virginia to have somebody in this role–third-ranking spot at HHS. We have more than 60,000. It’s the secretary (Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.), the deputy secretary, Jim O’Neill, and myself, and then the rest of our team,” he said last week on MetroNews Midday.
Stuart was appointed as the US Attorney for Southern West Virginia by President Donald Trump during his first term in 2018, serving until 2021.
He said the record he displayed during that tenure earned him a bigger role for President Trump’s second tenure in the White House.
“The Trump administration went back and rated all of those US attorneys who worked in his prior administration and ranked them–1, 2, 3, 4, and so on and so forth. I was blessed to be ranked number-one coming out of that group so I was going to have a place in the administration and I chose the Department of Health and Human Services. I thought it was the place where I could have the greatest impact,” he said.
Stuart believes that impact comes from the wide range of issues affecting the American people that HHS helps deal with.
“We handle everything from complex patent and trademark work, you can imagine, for the Department of Health and Human Services to the most complex. nuclear issues that happen to affect healthcare,” he said.
One of those issues that caught Stuart’s attention since being confirmed by Congress is the costs of medicine and healthcare. He said it makes him proud to do what he thinks is best for the American people.
“One of the great concerns every American has is the cost of pharmaceuticals and the cost of healthcare. These are incredibly expensive–in many cases the most expensive of a family’s budget–so to be able work on these things every single day and negotiate a better result for American families is very gratifying,” he said.
Stuart has a message for the people of West Virginia who see what he is doing in Washington. As a staunch backer of Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again campaign, he wants more people to take a step forward and join what’s being done at HHS.
“The things we deal with literally touch on American life. The decisions we make are life and death in many instances. We take that seriously. I’m glad I’m surrounded by a great team of folks. I need more people,” he said.
Stuart was confirmed as the general counsel for HHS in October.