Adams Nomination Hearing Heavy on Vaccines & Medicaid
Senate confirmation continues coming together for ACF nominee from Idaho
Adams Nomination Hearing Heavy on Vaccines & Medicaid
Senate confirmation continues coming together for ACF nominee from Idaho.
On July 22nd, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee held a confirmation hearing for 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 SFC Asked
Adams’ nomination has the strong backing of Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-ID), which all but ensures confirmation.
We noted that confirmation hearings typically focus on securing policy commitments when the nominee is relatively non-controversial.
This hearing was light on child welfare policy details, with a larger focus on adjacent topics driving partisan divides.
Senators raised questions that ranged from the nominee’s views on HHS Secretary Kennedy’s views on vaccines to the the recent spending reductions to Medicaid in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
We saw some questions as expected on ACF staffing cuts and reconciliation, and a focus on Head Start and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
There were surprisingly few questions on the details of child welfare policy, including on the Family First Prevention Services Act or the recent Title IV-B reauthorization.
What Comes Next
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.
Expect a formal voting out of committee on a party-line vote, followed by Senate confirmation, likely before the end of the summer.