Yes man? Trump’s HHS Secretary pick may face tricky confirmation

President-elect Donald Trump’s selection to run HHS is on a list of Cabinet appointees Senate Democrats plan to delay for months, according to the Washington Post.

Democrats are hoping to force Trump’s picks, including HHS Secretary-designate Tom Price, MD, to disclose personal financial data under the threat of “slow-walking” the confirmation process. Republicans had hoped to have Trump’s Cabinet picks confirmed by his inauguration on Jan. 20, but Democrats may stall until late Match—what Post reporter Ed O’Keefe calls “an unprecedented break with Senate tradition.”

There have conflict-of-interest concerns about Price, an orthopedic surgeon and member of the U.S. House since 2005. A Wall Street Journal report said he had traded more than $300,000 in healthcare stocks dating back to 2012 while sponsoring and advocating for bills that could affect those companies’ economic fortunes.

That potential conflict, however, is not cited in the Post report as the reason Price’s confirmation may be held up. The issue Democrats will supposedly focus on is his support of changing Medicare to a voucher program.

Price’s nomination has already been a source of controversy in the medical community. Major organizations like the American Medical Association (AMA) and American Hospital Association applauded the pick and called for a quick confirmation.

More than 2,000 physicians responded by signing an online letter titled “The AMA Does Not Speak for Us,” bashing the Price endorsement. The 10,000-member National Physicians Alliance has been openly critical of Price leading the HHS, saying the AMA and other endorsed him “without consideration of the harm his policies would inflict on our collective patients.”