Adams Heads Toward ACF Leadership: What to Watch
Senate confirmation coming together for ACF nominee from Idaho.
Adams Heads Toward ACF Leadership: What to Watch
Senate confirmation coming together for ACF nominee from Idaho.
On July 22nd, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee will hold a nomination hearing on Alex Adams, the Trump Administration’s nominee for Assistant Secretary for Family Support at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
What to Know
Alex Adams is currently Director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
In that role he has focused on child welfare policy, including extending foster care to 23 and implementing kin-specific licensing standards.
A pharmacist by training, he spent five years overseeing Idaho’s budget and regulatory process, during which time the state got its first-ever AAA bond rating.
If confirmed, Adams will oversee ACF’s $72 billion portfolio, including the:
Child welfare programs of the Children’s Bureau;
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant;
Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), and
Refugee resettlement, through the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).
What to Watch
Adams’ nomination has the strong backing of Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-ID), which all but ensures confirmation. Still, don’t expect a rubber stamp.
Senate hearings are less about outcome than orchestration: members will use the moment to publicly extract commitments and signal policy priorities.
Look for questions on everything from ACF staffing cuts and reconciliation plans, to how Adams might juggle the bandwidth-consuming oversight of ORR) with the traditional workhorses of child welfare and economic support.
ACF has not been idle without a Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary, but acting leadership always comes with an asterisk.
Adams’ confirmation will bring new direction to an agency managing major personnel upheaval and ongoing funding uncertainty.