Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Senator Wyden criticizes HHS nominees over proposed Medicaid cuts, measles response and autism registry plan
Loading...
Summary
At a Senate Finance Committee nomination hearing, Senator Wyden sharply criticized nominees Jim O'Neil and Gary Andres for endorsing proposals he said would cut Medicaid, impair rural health care and raise privacy concerns about a proposed autism registry; the committee recessed without a confirmation vote.
Senator Wyden used remarks during a Senate Finance Committee nomination hearing to sharply criticize the policy views of two HHS nominees, saying their positions would weaken Medicaid, harm rural health care providers and risk privacy for people with autism.
Wyden said he asked Jim O'Neil, the nominee to be deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to give “a straightforward yes or no answer on whether he supports cutting Medicaid” and accused O'Neil of repeating talking points that amount to privileging “only certain groups” for health care. Wyden also said Gary Andres, the nominee for assistant secretary for legislation at HHS, had supported House proposals that would cut Medicaid funding.
"This week, Republicans in the house unveiled the largest proposed cut to the Medicaid program in American history," Wyden said. "The bill takes a wrecking ball to Medicaid, making it harder to get health care and loading down the program with a thicket of red tape and bureaucracy." He added that "these cuts to Medicaid are gonna hurt kids, seniors, Americans with disabilities, and working families the hardest." Wyden said he would not support nominees who back those cuts.
Wyden also criticized the nominees' views on the federal response to a measles outbreak and raised alarm about a proposed national registry for people with autism. "I particularly wanna condemn this idea of creating a national registry for those with autism, that is a dangerous road to travel down, and parents are scared about what the Trump administration is planning," he said. He cited an ongoing measles outbreak and said it "has now topped a thousand cases." Wyden framed those positions as part of a broader concern about transparency and responsiveness from the administration.
The hearing provided members an opportunity to make remarks about the nominees; the transcript contains statements of support and criticism but does not record a committee confirmation vote. The committee recessed and agreed to reconvene on the floor at 11:30 during the first vote, and no roll-call confirmation occurred during the session covered in the transcript.
The exchange underscores debate in the Senate over proposed Medicaid cuts, rural health care impacts and privacy concerns linked to federal data collection proposals. Committee consideration of the nominees will continue as the confirmation process proceeds.
