Trump taps controversial GOP aide for chief HHS watchdog

President Donald Trump's pick to be the top official investigating waste, fraud and abuse at the Health and Human Services Department has firsthand experience with improper payments at government agencies.

Attorney March Bell, whom Trump nominated to be HHS inspector general on Monday, lost his job as deputy director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality in 1997 after an audit accused him of authorizing an improper payment to a former employee. Bell was senior adviser and chief of staff at the HHS Office for Civil Rights during Trump's first term.

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The HHS Office of Inspector General has been leaderless since Trump fired Christi Grimm along with more than a dozen other inspectors general Jan. 25. These independent, nonpartisan investigators typically are not replaced when new administrations take over. Most of those fired officials have sued to get their jobs back.

The White House and HHS didn't respond to requests for comment.

Bell is general counsel for the House Administration Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), his latest position in a decades-long career as a Republican aide and official.

From 2015 to 2017, Bell was the top staffer on the House Select Investigative Panel on Planned Parenthood, which unsuccessfully sought to uncover evidence that the provider sold fetal tissue for profit. House Democrats accused Bell of inappropriately coordinating with groups that oppose abortion rights during the investigation.

Bell joined the first Trump administration in 2017, shortly after the Planned Parenthood committee ended its work.

Bell's nomination suggests the White House isn't seeking nonpartisan experts to be inspectors general, said Claire Ernst, director of government relations at the law and lobbying firm Hooper Lundy & Bookman.

“Typically, inspectors general transcend administrations, so the fact that this administration excused a number of them is already unusual. And then to have March Bell, who is pretty ‘on the record’ with his politicized views, in a role that is objective and independent — it could suggest that this administration is going a non-traditional direction,” Ernst said.

If the Senate confirms Bell, he would oversee Medicare and Medicaid audits, conduct investigations of fraud and misconduct, and guide the department on efficient use of resources. The Office of Inspector General recouped more than $7 billion in fiscal 2024, according to a report it submitted to Congress in December.

The most recent Office of Inspector General work plan includes audits of Medicare payments for durable medical equipment, an inspection of Medicare-Medicaid dual-eligible enrollee access to prescription drugs, and hospital reporting of patient harm events.