Senate Democrats warned Wednesday that Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., will face tough questions in his upcoming confirmation hearing to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services.
In a press conference condemning Republican proposals to reform entitlements, top Senate Democrats called Price “one of the most avowed enemies of Medicare,” and pledged to make it tough for him to win confirmation.
Democrats have little power over President-elect Trump’s nominees thanks to a change they made to the chamber rules in 2013, when they held the majority. Instead of requiring 60 votes for confirmation, executive branch nominees need only a simple majority, which gives Democrats very little say over Price or any other nominee as long as Republicans are united.
Lacking filibuster power, Democrats plan to use confirmation hearings as their remaining weapon to attack and slow down nominees.
“He is going to get some heck of a hearing when he comes before us in the Senate,” incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said of Price.
Democrats are taking aim at Price, a former physician from Georgia, because he backs repealing Obamacare and curbing the cost of entitlements, including Medicare.
Price backs a Medicare reform plan that would give seniors the option of enrolling in private insurance and would raise the age of eligibility for those now in their 40s and younger. In an interview last month, Price said lawmakers would consider Medicare reform in 2017, but House and Senate GOP leaders have not pledged any effort to take on the entitlement.
Democrats, meanwhile, are calling for an expansion of entitlements like Medicare that they would pay for by raising taxes on the so-called one percent of upper-income earners.
“When it comes to issues like Medicare, Representative Price and the average American couldn’t be further apart,” Schumer said.
Senate Republicans plan to move quickly to confirm Trump’s nominees. Democrats have vowed to slow down or block the process in retribution for the GOP’s refusal to consider President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he anticipates Democrats will make the confirmations difficult but they won’t be able to block anyone.
“As a result of what our colleagues on the other side of the aisle did in 2013, there’s not a whole lot they can do,” McConnell said.
