On Monday June 1, the White House announced the nomination of Mark Cruz (Klamath) of Oregon to serve as Director of the Indian Health Service at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Cruz currently serves as the first Tribal Senior Advisor to Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He was sworn into the newly created senior advisor position in June 2025, becoming one of the highest-ranking Native officials within HHS. In his current position, Cruz has demonstrated his commitment to promoting Indian health, helping to secure a historic $1 billion in funding to address the 1993 facilities construction list backlog at the IHS.
Prior to HHS, Cruz 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 for Indian Affairs Tara Mac Lean Sweeney.
The IHS Director role has been vacant since January 2025. The National Indian Health Board supports the appointment of a permanent IHS Director. To serve as the Director, Mr. Cruz must first be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. NIHB will share additional details about this process as they become available.
