WASHINGTON — The Senate Finance Committee deadlocked Wednesday in a party-line vote of 14-14 on whether to recommend that California Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) be approved by the full Senate.
Under Senate rules, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) or Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) can now make a motion on the Senate floor to vote on the nomination despite not getting any recommendation one way or the other from the Finance Committee, committee chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Wednesday morning. The whole Senate itself is also split 50-50 along party lines, but if a full Senate vote on Becerra’s nomination ended in a tie, it would be broken by Vice President Kamala Harris.
Prior to the vote, committee members from both parties expressed strong feelings about Becerra. “No nomination is more urgent than Secretary of Health and Human Services,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.). “HHS has always been a critical role, but especially during a pandemic. Attorney General Becerra’s experience will be a tremendous asset as he works to address the pandemic and make healthcare more affordable.”
She noted that as a congressman, Becerra helped write the Affordable Care Act, and then worked to defend it in court as California’s attorney general. In addition, Becerra also worked to address both the opioid crisis and mental health issues. “I know he’ll put American families at the top of his agenda,” she said.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) agreed, saying his vote for Becerra was an “enthusiastic yes.”
“I served in Congress with Xavier Becerra … and saw his leadership qualities then,” Brown said.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD (R-La.), used some of his time to walk back remarks he’d made earlier, to the effect that Becerra was unqualified because he wasn’t a physician. Others had noted that the last secretary, Alex Azar, was also an attorney like Becerra, and Cassidy had supported his appointment.
“Let me phrase it differently; he’s a very good attorney general; he has administered a legal department with a budget of about a billion dollars,” said Cassidy. “But his qualifications to be HHS secretary seem to be minimal beyond suing HHS.”
“We would expect someone who’s an attorney general to have a legal background pertinent to being attorney general; it seems as if we should expect that of an HHS secretary,” he continued. “Previous HHS secretaries have had a pharmaceutical industry background, been a state health commissioner, run health systems, been governors — somebody who has had a background in actually administering the programs that HHS administers.”
Cassidy said he had asked Becerra during last week’s Finance Committee nomination hearing “about three different aspects of HHS territory. In the HELP Committee, I asked about the 340B program — a governor would know about the 340B, a pharmaceutical rep would, a healthcare provider would, and Mr. Becerra displayed no familiarity … In this committee I asked about the program Temporary Assistance for Needy Families — a governor would know that. Mr. Becerra showed no familiarity.”
“The HHS secretary should not be a learn-on-the-job position, and I’m afraid that Mr. Becerra will be very dependent on advisors,” Cassidy concluded. “Mr. Becerra’s very bright; he’s very well-meaning; he’s very smart. I will cooperate with him and work with him. But we shouldn’t have the pretense that this person has the qualifications of someone with a different background.”
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), who last week criticized Becerra for filing lawsuits related to contraceptive coverage, said that he “would like to associate myself with Sen. Cassidy’s great comments.”
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), the committee’s ranking member, said he was disappointed with some of Becerra’s answers to senators’ questions during last week’s Finance Committee nomination hearing. “Some responses were seemingly made to avoid discussion of important and sometimes controversial issues. Avoidance of issues is not something that would help Americans confront healthcare challenges or recover from the pandemic,” he said.
“The secretary of Health and Human Services will have substantial power in interpreting and implementing law through regulation. Significant concerns have been raised about Attorney General Becerra’s challenges to HHS’s authority to provide a conscience exemption from the Obamacare contraception coverage mandate, and enforcement of the state’s restrictive actions, including a ban on indoor religious services that was rejected by the Supreme Court,” he continued.
Crapo ended on a conciliatory note, saying that although he wouldn’t be voting for Becerra’s confirmation, “this process has demonstrated that we do share some areas of common interest and concern. If he is confirmed, I will work with Mr. Becerra to permanently expand telehealth in a fiscally responsible way, to update payment systems based on lessons learned from COVID-19 flexibilities, and to find bipartisan solutions to shore up Medicare’s finances.”
Wyden tried to counter the Republicans’ remarks. “If there’s an effort to paint the attorney general as some kind of inexperienced radical, it’s not at all backed up by what the committee saw last week,” he said. “Senators will always have different views than nominees of the other party … But disagreement on some issues alone is not a good enough reason to oppose a nominee as knowledgeable and qualified as Attorney General Becerra.”
“Bottom line, this country is in the middle of a public health nightmare, and the American people need and deserve a Senate-confirmed leader running HHS as soon as possible,” Wyden said. “The department is right at the center of the effort to save lives and end the pandemic. There’s a tough job ahead for Attorney General Becerra, and the American people cannot afford delay with respect to moving this nomination.”
Source: MedicalNewsToday.com
