Trump names anti-Obamacare congressman Tom Price his health secretary, amid rumors he will make General James Mattis defense secretary and Ben Carson HUD secretary today

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President-elect Donald Trump has named Georgia representative Tom Price, a leading critic of Obamacare, as his head of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The announcement came as rumors suggested he could nominate General James Mattis for secretary of defense and Dr Ben Carson for secretary of Housing and Urban Development, on Tuesday.

Trump also tapped Seema Verma, CEO and founder of SVC, Inc., a national health policy consulting company, as his administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services.

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President-elect Donald Trump has selected Georgia representative Tom Price (pictured in Trump Tower on November 16) to head the Department of Health and Human Services

Price, a 62-year-old six-term congressman and orthopedic surgeon, has chaired the House Budget Committee for the past two years (pictured in Trump Tower)

If confirmed by the Senate, Price (pictured entering Trump Tower) could play a pivotal role in Trump keeping his promise to 'repeal and replace' Obamacare

Along with Price, Indiana health policy consultant Verma will play a key role in Trump's 'dream team' of transforming the U.S. healthcare system, officials said. 

Earlier this year, vice president-elect Mike Pence, who was at the time governor of Indiana, named Verma the 'Sagamore of the Wabash', an award presented to a person who has helped contribute to the state. 

Trump said in a Tuesday morning statement that Price is a 'renowned physician' and 'the go-to expert on healthcare policy.'

'He is exceptionally qualified to shepherd our commitment to repeal and replace Obamacare and bring affordable and accessible healthcare to every American,' the incoming president said. 

Pence confirmed that 'there will be a number of very important announcements (Tuesday)'.

The cabinet appointments of Carson, Mattis and Verma have been rumored as Trump's picks by John Gizzi of Newsmax and Jon Passantino of Buzzfeed News.

Trump spokesman Jason Miller said not to expect his nomination for secretary of state just yet. 

The president-elect met with ex-CIA Director David Petraeus yesterday at Trump Tower. He's dining with Mitt Romney tonight. Both men are seen as finalists for the diplomatic post.

Price - if confirmed by the Senate - would play a pivotal role in Trump keeping his promise to 'repeal and replace' Obamacare.

Trump has pledged to move quickly on overhauling the landmark measure, but has been vague about what he hopes to see in a replacement bill.

The president-elect has said he favors keeping provisions that allow young people to stay on their parents' health insurance and that prevent insurance companies from denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions.

Rumors also suggest that Trump will name General James Mattis (center) as secretary of defense

After Mattis left a meeting with Trump earlier this month, they shook hands and when asked about how the meeting went, Trump said: 'All I can say is he is the real deal'

Price, a 62-year-old six-term congressman and orthopedic surgeon, has chaired the House Budget Committee for the past two years. He is also on the House's taxation committee, Ways and Means.

A bookish conservative from the Atlanta suburbs, Price has worked closely with House Speaker Ryan - who said today that he's the 'absolute perfect choice' for HHS - to assemble GOP budgets aimed at reducing the annual deficit.

Last week, Price said whatever Republicans do to replace Obama's health care law will bear a 'significant resemblance' to a 2015 measure that was vetoed by the president. 

That bill would have gutted some of the health care law's main features: Medicaid expansion, subsidies to help middle-class Americans buy private policies, the tax penalties for individuals who refused to get coverage and several taxes to support coverage expansion. 

The bill would have delayed implementation for two years.

Price insisted that Republicans can keep the protections for those with existing medical conditions without mandating that all individuals carry coverage or pay a penalty to support an expanded insurance pool. 

It is also believed he will name Dr Ben Carson (pictured in Trump Tower) as secretary of housing and urban development

Earlier this month, however, Carson took himself out of the running for a position in Trump's White House, but said if Trump really needed him, he'd reconsider

Price said Republicans want to address 'the real cost drivers' of health care price spikes, which he said were not necessarily sicker patients, but a heavy regulatory burden, taxes and lawsuits against medical professionals. 

'There is much work to be done to ensure we have a healthcare system that works for patients, families, and doctors; that leads the world in the cure and prevention of illness; and that is based on sensible rules to protect the well-being of the country while embracing its innovative spirit,' Price said in a Tuesday statement.

Ryan lauded Price's selection in a statement that said, 'This is the absolute perfect choice....We could not ask for a better partner to work with Congress to fix our nation's health care challenges.'

Incoming Senate Democrat leader Chuck Schumer signaled his party's displeasure with Trump's plans to repeal the healthcare law  in a statement blasting Price as 'far out of the mainstream' when it comes to health care.

'Nominating Congressman Price to be the HHS secretary is akin to asking the fox to guard the hen house,' Schumer declared.

Seema Verma (pictured in Trump Tower), CEO and founder of SVC, Inc, a national health policy consulting company is on tap for administrator of  the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services

Trump has been teetering back and forth on his appointment for the Secretary of Defense position, but it appears he has finally decided on Mattis.  

Mattis is a controversial figure who will need a congressional waiver in order to serve as the secretary of defense.

The four-star Marine Corps general, who once said 'it’s fun to shoot some people', according to the Daily Beast, has only been retired for four years. 

But in order to obtain the position, secretaries of defense must be out of the military for seven.

Arizona Senator and Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain said that Congress has waived this requirement in the past and that it shouldn't hinder Trump's choice.  

A team of lawyers is reportedly working on Capitol Hill to figure out how to make the waiver work for Mattis.

After Mattis left a meeting with Trump earlier this month, they shook hands and Trump told the press: 'All I can say is he is the real deal. The real deal.'

Trump added of Mattis that 'he's just a brilliant, wonderful man. What a career. We are going to see what happens but he is the real deal.'

Mattis led Central Command from 2010 to 2013 before retiring. He managed conflicts in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia during that time.  

He often butted heads with the Obama administrations, which he saw as weak and too hasty to remove troops from Afghanistan.

Mattis has made many comments criticizing the Obama administration from innocuous details to things as dire as failing to prepare to battle an expansionist Iran, according to the Daily Beast.

'The international order… is not self sustaining. It demands tending by an America that leads wisely, standing unapologetically… in defense of our values,' Mattis said.

His fellow Marines have lauded him as a 'warrior monk' and at one point he was poised to run against Trump as the nominee for president. 

Trump is believed to announce the four appointments to his cabinet on Tuesday, sources say

Dr Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and former Republican presidential candidate, has been a loyal Trump supporter since ending his own bid for the White House during the primaries. 

Earlier this month, however, he took himself out of the running for a position in Trump's White House, saying that he has 'no government experience,' even though he ran for the presidency.

'The way I'm leaning is to work from the outside and not from the inside,' Carson told The Washington Post. 'I want to have the freedom to work on many issues and not be pigeonholed into one particular area.'

Carson's longtime adviser Armstrong Williams told The Hill, 'Dr. Carson feels he has no government experience, he's never run a federal agency. The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency.' 

Williams told RealClearPolitics: 'Dr. Carson does not think he is prepared to run a federal agency ... it's just not good for him or the country right now.'

But Carson didn't rule out serving Trump completely.

'I've said that if it came to a point where he absolutely needs me, I'd reconsider. But I don't think that's the situation with these positions,' Carson continued in his interview with the Post. 

It appears Trump has swayed Carson, and he could be named as the nominee for the HUD position as early as Tuesday morning.

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