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Trump’s pick for health and human services secretary takes office

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Health and Human Services Secretary-designate, Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga. paused while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 24, at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Vice President Mike Pence administered the oath of office to Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, accompanied by his wife Betty, today, in the in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington.

WASHINGTON >> President Donald Trump’s new health secretary took office today after becoming the latest Cabinet nominee to eke out a confirmation victory in the bitterly divided Senate.

Vice President Mike Pence administered the oath of office to Tom Price, of Georgia, at the White House hours after the Senate confirmed him 52-47 in a party-line vote. That roll call came in the dead of night, thanks to Democrats’ tactic of forcing prolonged debates to broadcast their opposition to Trump and his team.

Pence said Price, an orthopedic surgeon, is “uniquely qualified” for the job and playing a leading role in helping the Republican-controlled Congress achieve its top priority of repealing and replacing the Obama-era Affordable Care Act.

Pence called Price “the most principled expert on health care policy” in Congress. Price served seven terms in the House.

As head of the Health and Human Services Department, Price will take center stage as the administration and congressional Republicans try delivering on their pledge to scrap President Barack Obama’s health care law and substitute their own programs. After years of trying, they finally command both the White House and Congress but have so far struggled to craft a plan with enough votes to win approval.

Price is likely to play a lead role both in shaping health care legislation and issuing department regulations aimed at weakening Obama’s statute.

“Having Dr. Tom Price at the helm of HHS gives us a committed ally in our work to repeal and replace Obamacare,” House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said today.

Democrats focused on the legislation Price once sponsored, including efforts to kill Obama’s law. He’s also sought to reshape Medicare’s guarantee of health coverage for seniors into a voucher-like program, cut Medicaid, which helps poor people afford care, and halt federal payments to Planned Parenthood because it provides abortions.

Sen Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., conceded that Price had experience but added, “It’s the kind of experience that should horrify you.”

That battle won, Republicans were preparing to next win Senate confirmation for financier Steven Mnuchin to be Treasury secretary. He was expected to get the chamber’s approval Monday, along with Trump’s choice to head the Department of Veterans Affairs, physician David Shulkin.

Republicans have lauded Mnuchin’s long career in the finance and banking worlds.

As they did with Price, Democrats are attacking Mnuchin’s background, such as criticizing OneWest bank, which he led, for not protecting thousands of homeowners from unnecessary foreclosures. They also said he failed to disclose nearly $100 million in assets on forms he filed with the Senate.

Price’s nomination is part of a larger clash in which Republicans want to quickly enact priorities long blocked by Obama. Democrats, with few tools as Congress’ minority, are making a show of resistance, stretching some floor debates to the maximum 30 hours Senate rules allow.

The high stakes plus Trump’s belligerent style have fed the combativeness. They’ve also produced remarkable scenes, including Democratic boycotts of hearings, Republicans suspending committee rules to approve nominees and GOP senators voting to bar Warren from joining one debate.

Democrats have accused Price of lying about his acquisition of discounted shares of an Australian biotech company and benefiting from insider information. They’ve also asserted he pushed legislation to help a medical implant maker whose stock he’d purchased.

Price has said he’s done nothing wrong. It’s illegal for members of Congress to engage in insider trading.

His close confirmation was the fourth consecutive Senate clash over a Cabinet nominee that closely followed party lines.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions was confirmed 52-47, after Warren was punished for reading a 1986 letter by Coretta Scott King criticizing him. Betsy DeVos became Education secretary by 51-50, thanks to a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Mike Pence.

And Former Exxon-Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson became secretary of state by 56-43.

Those close tallies are a departure from most Cabinet votes, in which the Senate usually grants overwhelming approval in a show of deference to letting presidents choose their teams.

Just four of 31 votes for then-President Barack Obama’s Cabinet vacancies drew at least 40 “no” votes, as did only two of 34 votes for Cabinet positions under President George W. Bush.

During that period, the closest tally for health secretary before Price was the 65-31 roll call for Obama’s 2009 pick, Kathleen Sibelius.

6 responses to “Trump’s pick for health and human services secretary takes office”

  1. Keonigohan says:

    Slowly but surely one of the BEST administrations in American history is taking shape.
    #MAGA

    • MillionMonkeys says:

      Yes, we need more people who are smart enough to do insider trading. That’s SMART! And Donald is the SMARTEST because he never has to pay taxes! #MAGA! (Make America Greedy Again!)

      • klastri says:

        In any other administration, Dr. Price would be an investigation target for insider trading. The Trump administration is totally corrupt, and it’s forming into an organized crime cabal. No one could have imagined anyone like Dr. Price remaining in government after the insider trading guidelines.

        Dr. Price is very lucky to have landed in the Trump cesspool of conflicts.

  2. bsdetection says:

    Price profited from insider trading of stocks, using information about pending legislation. In any other administration, this would have been discovered during the pre-nomination vetting process and the nomination would have been aborted, but the Trump transition team’s vetting process was so minimal that someone as unethical as Price sailed through. Putting politics aside, Price’s illegal stock trading should have made him unacceptable to both parties, but in the Trump era conflicts of interest and lack of any ethical standards are the norm. Filling the swamp.

    • MillionMonkeys says:

      It’s impossible for the Trump administration to not thoroughly vet their nominees. Trump’s such an excellent vetter, he invented the term EXTREME VETTING, and will keep our nation safe from Muslim housewives and visiting professors from Iraq. Ivanka could market a new line of “Extremely Vetted” t-shirts that Nordstrom would be proud to carry in their upscale stores. I can’t wait until America is great again!

      • klastri says:

        Make sure you say the word EXTREME twice in a row like Trump does. It means more that way.

        So today, Trump told Secretary of State Tillerson that Tillerson’s choice for the #2 slot at State was no good. Tillerson’s choice was Elliott Abrams, who served under Reagan and GW Bush.

        Why was Secretary Tillerson’s choice rejected by King Donald? Because Trump said Mr. Abrams was “mean” to him during the campaign.

        Trump is a spoiled 13 year-old who never grew up. Humiliating his Secretary of State after less than a week on the job? Priceless!

        Trump is a psychotic.

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