Republican senators say they have not lost confidence in Tom Price’s nomination to be Health and Human Services secretary after a cloud of questions and accusations about his stock trading.
The Georgia House Republican will go before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee Wednesday for a confirmation hearing. Democrats clamored for the hearing to be delayed until an investigation into his stock trading is complete, and they renewed those calls Tuesday, saying that new reports that Price bought stock in a medical device maker before introducing legislation that helps that company poses new questions.
But several Republicans are continuing to support Price, an orthopedic surgeon and chairman of the House Budget Committee.
“I like him. I intend to support him. I think he’s really smart,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. “They’d have to show me he did something really wrong.”
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., also said that he hasn’t lost confidence in Price, saying he is “a good appointment.”
The Senate Finance Committee announced on Tuesday that it will hold a confirmation on Price on Jan. 24. The Finance Committee will vote on Price’s nomination, with the Senate HELP hearing a courtesy.
“As a doctor, he has a firsthand understanding of the healthcare system on the ground and how policies from Washington affect the patient-doctor relationship,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, in a statement Tuesday.
Democrats are aiming to undercut Price’s support among the GOP by highlighting stock deals the orthopedic surgeon has made.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, R-N.Y., pointed to new reports that Price purchased between $1,000 and $15,000 of shares in the medical device maker Zimmet Biomet before introducing legislation that would have helped the company.
“This is a narrow company that works on hip and knee implants,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday.
Schumer added that Price brought up “narrow legislation with undoing some regulations on them. It’s really troubling.”
The legislation was aimed at delaying a Medicare regulation regarding reimbursement of hip and knee replacements.
Republicans leapt to Price’s defense, calling the new allegations baseless.
Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said on the Senate floor that a broker made the Zimmer purchases without Price’s knowledge.
“He didn’t know the purchase had been made on his behalf until it was disclosed, which he did as he is required to do by the Stock Act,” said Isakson, referring to the law created in 2012 to combat insider trading.
The Trump transition team called the initial report on the stock trade from CNN as “junk reporting” and noted that Price wasn’t in charge of the account that made the stock purchase.
However, the Zimmer purchase wasn’t the only report on Price’s stock trading.
Democrats called for an ethics probe earlier this month into Price’s trading of $300,000 in shares of health-related companies over the past four years. During the same period, Price authored or co-authored dozens of bills that could have affected the companies’ stock prices, several Democrats have said.
It is legal for lawmakers to trade stocks, but doing so while making laws that affect those same companies creates legal quandaries, according to ethics experts.
Price has said he will sell all of his stocks and leave a surgeon group in Georgia if he is confirmed.
Wall Street dealings aren’t the only topic likely to be on the agenda for the hearing. When Price was tapped, Democrats rallied that he has advocated for sweeping overhauls to Medicare and Medicaid.
Price also has crafted one of the most well-known alternatives to Obamacare, putting together legislative text for a replacement plan for the controversial healthcare law.
His healthcare plan mirrors several parts of other GOP healthcare ideas, including allowing insurers to sell plans across state lines and boosting health savings accounts.
Last week the GOP took its first step toward its long-sought goal of repealing the law, passing a budget resolution that directs committees to start crafting repeal legislation.
