Secretary Kennedy Appoints Casey B. Mulligan as HHS Chief Economist and Regulatory Officer

WASHINGTON — April 17, 2026 — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today announced the appointment of Casey B. Mulligan, PhD, as Chief Economist and Chief Regulatory Officer. Mulligan is a renowned University of Chicago economist who served as Chief Economist on the Council of Economic Advisers during the first Trump Administration. He most recently served as the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Chief Counsel for Advocacy.

Mulligan will advise Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and other agency leaders on policy development to continue to make health care more affordable for the American people. His portfolio will include cost-benefit analysis of regulation, econometric modeling, and program evaluation of major expenditures.

“Casey Mulligan exemplifies the kind of top-tier talent we are bringing into HHS,” said Secretary Kennedy. “He played a central role in delivering President Trump’s economic policy successes, and now he will apply that same expertise to health care—an industry that makes up nearly one-fifth of our economy.”

“I’m honored that President Trump and Secretary Kennedy have tasked me with applying economic fundamentals to maximize health care affordability,” said Mulligan. “I look forward to working with the outstanding HHS leadership team they’ve assembled to prevent chronic disease and further reduce costs throughout the system.”

Mulligan received his Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University before earning his doctorate from the University of Chicago, where he became a Professor of Economics and co-founded the University’s Initiative on Enabling Choice and Competition in Healthcare. He is the author of the books You’re Hired!, an account of the record economic growth and prosperity in President Trump’s first term, and Side Effects and Complications: The Economic Consequences of Health-Care Reform.