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- By Levi Rickert
On Thursday, Mark Cruz, a tribal citizen of the Klamath Tribes, was officially sworn in as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Cruz’s appointment fulfills a promise Secretary Kennedy made to tribal leaders during his confirmation process to ensure Native voices have a seat at the highest levels of the department.
“HHS is committed to supporting Indigenous communities. Together, we can achieve our shared goal to Make America Healthy Again,” read a statement posted on the department’s official Facebook page following the ceremony.
Cruz brings extensive experience in tribal and federal policy. He previously served at the U.S. Department of the Interior during the Trump administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary–Indian Affairs for Policy and Economic Development (DAS-PED), a role he assumed on September 24, 2018, after being appointed by then-Assistant Secretary–Indian Affairs Tara Mac Lean Sweeney.
Before his time at the Interior Department, Cruz held key roles on Capitol Hill. He served as chief of staff to Representative Todd Rokita (R-Indiana) from 2017 to 2018, after working on Rokita’s legislative team from 2014 to 2017. From 2013 to 2014, he was a legislative fellow in the office of Representative Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma). During his time in Congress, Cruz focused on education, labor, civil service reform, appropriations, and oversight. He played a significant role in the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 and helped advance the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act through the House on two occasions.
Cruz began his career in education through Teach for America, teaching at St. Francis Indian High School, a Bureau of Indian Education tribal grant school on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He was named Teacher of the Year for the 2011–2012 school year, an experience that deepened his conviction that all students deserve access to high-quality education as a path to opportunity and upward mobility.
A 2006 recipient of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Millennium Scholarship, Cruz earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Pepperdine University and a master’s degree in urban education policy from Brown University. While at Pepperdine, he studied abroad in London and completed internships at the Fox News Channel and in the Washington, D.C. office of Representative Greg Walden (R-Oregon).
While Thursday's announcement was welcome news, the Trump administration has yet to name a director for the Indian Health Service (IHS).
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