Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In Sign Of Escalating Tension On Hill, Senate Panel Lifts Rules To Vote On Price Without Dems
Reuters: U.S. Senate Panel Suspends Rules, Backs Price, Mnuchin For Cabinet
Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee suspended committee rules and confirmed U.S. Representative Tom Price to head the Department of Health and Human Services and banker Steven Mnuchin to be Treasury secretary Wednesday on a straight party line vote, sending the nominations to the Senate floor. Under pressure from their political base to block President Donald Trump's nominees, Democrats stayed away from the meeting for a second day running. This normally would have stopped action, but Republicans plowed ahead by voting to suspend the rule that required at least one Democrat to be present for business to be conducted. (Cornwell, 2/1)
The Washington Post: Senate Republicans Just Bent Committee Rules To Approve Cabinet Nominees. Is That The New Normal?
Senate Democrats aren't making it easy for Republicans to approve President Trump's Cabinet nominees — and now, Republicans are so mad, they're abandoning their own committee rules to push at least two nominees through. Democrats boycotted a Finance Committee hearing Tuesday, meaning the committee couldn't make a quorum. ... Republicans got predictably mad at the stall tactic but set another hearing for Wednesday morning, hoping to hold a vote. But Democrats, again, were no-shows. That's when the GOP senators on the committee got creative and made a move that is sure to infuriate the opposition. (Stevenson, 2/1)
The Associated Press: GOP Pushes 2 Top Cabinet Picks Through To Full Senate
Underscoring Congress’ foul mood, Finance panel Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Democrats should be “ashamed” for staying away from his committee’s meeting. “I don’t feel a bit sorry for them,” he told reporters, adding later, “I don’t care what they want at this point.” (Fram and Lardner, 2/1)
Los Angeles Times: Senate Panel Approves Mnuchin For Treasury Secretary After Republicans Change The Rules
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the top Democrat on the committee, said the decision to change the rules was “deeply troubling … in the face of strong evidence of two nominees’ serious ethical problems.” Democrats wrote to Hatch on Wednesday requesting Mnuchin and Price “submit complete, accurate responses to repeated requests for information.” (Puzzanghera, 2/1)
Politico: GOP Breaks Dem Blockade On Mnuchin And Price
"We have significant concerns that both Mr. Mnuchin and Congressman Price gave inaccurate and misleading testimony and responses to questions to the Committee," the Democrats said. Republicans slammed them as being obstructionists and downplayed their concerns with the nominees. The GOP adopted a similar approach in the environment committee, where chairman Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) vowed to push past the Democratic boycott of EPA nominee Scott Pruitt — though he declined to say exactly how he would do so. (Warmbrodt, Cancryn and Schor, 2/1)
Bloomberg: Mnuchin, Price, Sessions Advance In Senate As Democrats Boycott
Overall, Trump is making slow progress in stocking his cabinet. ... But the drama at several committees shows rising frustration on both sides about the handling of the confirmation process. (Dopp and Dennis, 2/1)
The Hill: GOP Changes Rules To Push Through Nominees After Dem Boycott
The Democratic blockade is the most visible example of that party’s renewed efforts to slow the consideration of Trump’s nominees to a crawl, as the party and its base hardens in opposition to the new president. (Schroeder, 2/1)
Modern Healthcare: Price's Confirmation For HHS Secretary Advances Without Votes From Democrats
Price, an orthopedic surgeon from Georgia, sat on the Health Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee. During his time in Congress, Price proposed legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act. During confirmation hearings before the Senate Finance and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees, Price mostly dodged questions aimed at pinning him down on maintaining ACA provisions such as not allowing insurance companies to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions and providing free preventive care. He has been outspoken about his desire to give states more control over Medicaid. (Dickson, 2/1)
