Tuesday, as President Donald Trump’s picks for head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), and head of the Treasury Department, Steven Mnuchin, were scheduled to be confirmed, multiple Democratic Senators on the Senate Finance Committee walked out.
The Hill reports:
Democrats walked out of the Senate Finance Committee hearing room, arguing that Mnuchin and Price misled senators in their testimony before the panel, and saying they could not allow a vote to proceed without more information.
NBC News reports that despite Republicans having the votes to usher the nominees to the next step in the process, “a quorum of committee members must be present to hold a vote,” or else the process is indefinitely stalled.
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) reportedly said: “We have great concern that Chairman Hatch is asking us to vote today on two nominees who out and out lied to our committee.”
The alleged lies pertain to perceived ethical concerns on the part of both nominees. Rep. Price for his “investments in medical companies,” and “whether he improperly mixed his political activity with his personal portfolio,” according to The Hill, and Mnuchin on his time working at OneWest Bank.
According to The Washington Examiner:
Democrats argue that Mnuchin misled them about foreclosures undertaken by the bank he formerly managed, OneWest. While Mnuchin claimed in written answers that the bank didn’t engage in “robo-signing” foreclosure documents, the committee found evidence from government documents and news reports that it did.
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) released a statement that reads:
“This is about getting answers to questions, plain and simple…Ethics laws are not optional, and nominees do not have a right to treat disclosure like a shell game.”
Meanwhile, Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) argued that the boycott isn’t really about Price and Mnuchin, but about Trump: “I’m very disappointed in this kind of crap…Some of this is because they just don’t like the president…This is the most pathetic thing I’ve seen in my whole time in the United States Senate.”
However, multiple outlets note Republicans used a similar tactic in 2013 against Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nominee Gina McCarthy.
Hatch said that Price and Mnuchin won’t be returning for further questioning. The Democrats are demanding it. It’s a game of will, and one side will have to give in.