Two members of Congress leading an Obamacare hearing Thursday morning broke out into an argument over whether a witness should be allowed to more fully answer a question.
Republican Rep. Tom Marino, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee, interrupted top Democrat Hank Johnson of Georgia during the five minutes Johnson was allowed under hearing rules to question witnesses.
Marino accused Johnson of not allowing witness Scott Gottlieb, a resident with the conservative American Enterprise Institute, to fully answer a question. Johnson had asked Gottlieb whether he agrees with several studies finding that the growth in health insurance premiums has been slower since the Affordable Care Act was passed.
After Gottlieb said he disagrees with that premise, Johnson attempted to move on quickly to another question. But then Marino broke in.
“You didn’t let [Gottlieb] answer the question, you cut him off,” Marino told Johnson.
Johnson pushed back, saying he should be able to control the questioning during the five minutes he was allotted to question the witnesses. In congressional hearings overall, members are typically allowed to control their own questioning time.
“I got a parliamentary inquiry, who controls the time during my questioning of my witnesses?” Johnson said to Marino. “I’m going to take exception … my time is running because I’m responding to your interrupting of my questions.”
Marino then agreed to give Johnson more time on the clock to make up for the wasted time.
The hearing was focused on how the 2010 healthcare law has affected competition in the healthcare marketplace and concerns about two big pending insurance mergers.
