Senate Dems boycott vote on Price as HHS Secretary

Nicholas Leider | | Health Exec | Policy & Regulations

The Senate finance committee scheduled a hearing for Tuesday morning to vote on the confirmation of Tom Price, MD, as the next HHS Secretary. Democrats, however, did not show up.

The boycott may be related to President Donald Trump's firing of Acting Attorney General Sally Yates for refusing to defend his executive order banning certain immigrants and refugees. But the no-show may also have to do with recent accusations that Price, a member of the House of Representatives from Georgia, may have received a privileged offer to buy biomedical stock, something that ran contrary to his testimony at confirmation hearings, according the the Wall Street Journal.

Democrats also boycotted the scheduled vote for Steve Mnuchin, Trump's choice for Secretary of the Treasury. Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the Finance Committee Chairman, dismissed the no-show as political theater.

“They ought to stop posturing and acting like idiots,” he said.

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Nicholas Leider, Managing Editor

Nicholas joined TriMed in 2016 as the managing editor of the Chicago office. After receiving his master’s from Roosevelt University, he worked in various writing/editing roles for magazines ranging in topic from billiards to metallurgy. Currently on Chicago’s north side, Nicholas keeps busy by running, reading and talking to his two cats.

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