Exclusive | Ben Carson jockeys for HHS secretary in Trump’s Cabinet: sources

Dr. Ben Carson — the renowned neurosurgeon who ran a presidential campaign in 2016 — is gunning for the role of Health and Human Services secretary under President-elect Donald Trump, The Post has learned.

Carson, 73, served as Trump’s secretary for Housing and Urban Development from 2017-2021, but does not want the position again and is instead open to heading HHS, two sources told The Post.

“[Carson’s] people are all over the transition pushing” the HHS position, one source close to Trump said.

“His people want it,” the source added.

Ben Carson speaks before Donald Trump at a faith event at the Concord Convention Center Oct. 21, 2024, in Concord, N.C. AP

Carson has been out on the campaign trail stumping for the president-elect and was with him at the West Palm Beach, Florida convention center on election night.

He also gave a speech at the Republican National Convention praising Trump after the assassination attempt on his life at a Butler, Pa. rally in July.

Trump’s transition team hasn’t made a final decision about who would occupy the HHS top role, and the 45th president has yet to name his choice for the post.

But the sources said Carson’s team is advocating for him to be the HHS secretary as deliberations continue at Mar-a-Lago.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., another potential recruit for the Trump administration, will likely be in a health-related role dealing with “data”, but would not be tapped for the Cabinet, Trump transition chair Howard Lutnick previously told CNN.

Ben Carson addresses supporters of Donald Trump, Oct. 5, 2024, in Livonia, Mich. AP

The HHS position would require Senate confirmation, leading to potential difficulties for RFK Jr., given his stances on vaccines.

Carson has been vocal about transgender issues since leaving the Trump administration, saying in 2022 that he believes doctors should stop performing sex change surgeries on minors, and that he would “adamantly refuse in all circumstances.”

“There’s a reason why they’re called minors. They don’t really know a lot of things, and they learn over the course of time as they become mature,” he told the Daily Caller in an interview at the time. “I suspect that in the future we will look back on this period of transgenderism and say, ‘How could those people be so foolish?’”

Carson’s view on minors receiving sex change surgeries is in line with Trump’s. The former president released a video in January of 2023 that he would “stop” the surgeries for minors, which he said was “child abuse.”

He’s currently leading the American Cornerstone Institute, a conservative think tank that features a podcast with Carson and provides programming for Americans wanting to know more about the federal government.

The Trump team did not respond to an inquiry from The Post.