we had javier becerra, and alex azar, the most recent hhs secretary under president trump. even though they were from different parties, what they said was very similar. it is a big job, you are overseeing a budget of trillions of dollars, and there is a lot of moving parts. but it was interesting to see how they tried to zero in on small things that they could get changed. hhs is a gigantic battleship. it's very hard to turn it, but you might be able to tinker with some of the things that are on deck. that's what the hhs secretary tries to do. host: what is their role during this appropriations process? is there such thing as a bully pulpit for the hhs secretary ako guest: there is. there are also people on capitol hill who work closely with people in the department. i have seen hhs secretaries, particularly when the government gets shut down, hhs secretaries get up and say, here are the things that are not happening. community health centers would shut down if there is no funding. host: would they like to see more of the funding on the discretionary side or the mandatory

becerra is interesting xavier becerra kathleen sebelius was hhs sector under president obama and alex azar whose most recent h secretary under president trump and get a lot of what they said even if they were from different parties was pretty similar. it's a big job. you were overseeing a budget of trojans because they oversee the medicare part as well as the discretionary part and there's a lot of moving parts but it was interesting to see how they tried to do in on small things they could get change. .. they have more impact on the mandatory side. the rulemaking process and sometimes they go too far for challenged in court and sometimes they win and sometimes they lose but there's a lot of discretion in those spending programs. >> other cases you're watching the next term of the supreme court? >> not yet but i'm sure they will come up. it's early. >> this is david in north carolina. good morning. >> i get my free and we are on social security and her medicine cost about $400 a month and she gets $920 a month. she has to pay for her medicine. >> back to the cost of medicine. >> night and

we had javier becerra, and alex azar, the most recent hhs secretary under president trump.though they were from different parties, what they said was very similar. it is a big job, you are overseeing a budget of trillions of dollars, and there is a lot of moving parts. but it was interesting to see how they tried to zero in on small things that they could get changed. hhs is a gigantic battleship. it's very hard to turn it, but you might be able to tinker with some of the things that are on deck. that's what the hhs secretary tries to do. host: what is their role during this appropriations process? is there such thing as a bully pulpit for the hhs secretary ako guest: there is. there are also people on capitol hill who work closely with people in the department. i have seen hhs secretaries, particularly when the government gets shut down, hhs secretaries get up and say, here are the things that are not happening. community health centers would shut down if there is no funding. host: would they like to see more of the funding on the discretionary side or the mandatory side?