Senate Democrats Boycott Committee Hearing For Trump's HHS Nominee
In a surprise move that “shocked” Senate Republicans, Senate Democrats boycotted committee hearings for both the nominee for Treasury secretary and the director of Health and Human Services (HHS), citing unanswered questions regarding the nominees’ personal finance decisions and possible insider trading. Democrats claim that HHS nominee Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) received “privileged” information — a claim the company disputes — and bought discounted stock in an Australian biomedical company, contradicting his testimony at Senate hearings in January.
Price, a former orthopedic surgeon and long-time opponent of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), was tapped to be HHS nominee in early December. House Speaker Paul Ryan called Price the “perfect” choice, and industry and provider advocacy groups made statements supporting Price, though critics voiced concerns that dramatic policy shifts advocated by Price could be “damaging and chaotic.”
Over the past two months, Price has attended two confirmation hearings and has answered questions regarding his personal finances and possible conflicts of interest. In response to suggestions from the ethics committee, Price has agreed to divest stock from over 43 publicly traded companies, including Pfizer and Aetna, and recuse himself as delegate to the American Medical Association, reported Politico.
Critics were not satisfied with these concessions, citing recent reports from CNN and Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that suggested Price was mixing business with legislation. WSJ reported that Price was possibly the recipient of “privileged” information from fellow House Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) regarding stock from Australian-based Innate Immunotherapeutics and offered a discounted rate offered to only a few U.S. investors, an allegation that both Collins and the company CEO have since denied.
Shortly before a meeting of the Senate Finance Committee, whose vote would clear Price for a formal vote by the entire Senate, four Senate Democrats — Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) — sent a letter to Republican leadership explaining their ethics concerns regarding Price. But Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the Finance Committee, went ahead with the scheduled vote.
Under committee rules, 13 members of the committee must be present in order to form a quorum, and one of those members must be a Democrat. No Democratic Senator appeared for the committee vote, bringing proceedings to a halt. Hatch called the efforts “pathetic.”
Ron Wyden, senior Democrat on the Finance Committee, said that he’d like to use the delay to speak with the Australian company directly. “This is about getting answers to questions, plain and simple,” Wyden told Bloomberg.
Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) told The Washington Post that it was easier to gather information and “fix” the issue before Price was confirmed, rather than deal with the scandal later, and that the boycott was “doing a favor” for the Trump administration.
Bloomberg reports that Republicans were counting on Price’s placement to solidify their plans to repeal the ACA and convince congressmen and -women who’ve expressed doubts about a hasty repeal without a consensus on a replacement.
Hatch told The Hill that he’d like to hold another committee hearing on Wednesday but declined to detail how he’d persuade democrats to drop the boycott.
Image credit: " Tom Price " by Gage Skidmore. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr.