Senate Democrats Gather Witnesses to Critique Trump’s Health Pick

Senate Democrats on Thursday kept up the critiques of President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, hosting witnesses in a Senate office building to talk about how the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid helped make their health care more affordable.

Democrats focused their attacks on Rep. Tom Price’s (R-Ga.) health policy record rather than his stock trading, which was a big focus of his hearing before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Wednesday.

“With a long career in politics, Congressman Price has consistently and vigorously sought to privatize Medicare, cut Medicaid, and take away health care from millions of Americans,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who helped coordinate the forum. “We don’t have to speculate — he has put these plans on paper and vocally supported them.”

Democrats said they wanted to hear from witnesses during official confirmation hearings, but Republicans refused. The forum came after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Republicans were trying to “jam through” Trump’s Cabinet nominees. Price was one of the nominees HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) “stymied members from asking critical questions of,” Schumer said.