Mike Stuart out as General Counsel at HHS

By RealWV staff,

*UPDATE: Following a Politico report on Friday that Mike Stuart was out as General Counsel at the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), a spokesman for the agency on Saturday clarified that Stuart would remain in the administration in another position “fighting fraud” and would continue in HHS until that new position is formalized.

CHARLESTON, WV — According to reports from Politico, former State Senator and WVGOP Chairman Mike Stuart is out as general counsel for Robert F. Kennedy’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) after only a few months on the job.

Stuart resigned from the WV Senate, where he served as Judiciary Chairman, on October 8, 2025, in order to take the job as the top public health lawyer in the nation for the Trump administration.

Politico reports that Stuart and Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill, who also heads the Centers for Disease Control, are both out as part of a leadership shakeup. Both Stuart and O’Neill will reportedly be offered other jobs in the administration, though details are unclear at this time.

As of this afternoon, Stuart is still listed as General Counsel on the official HHS website.