Confirmation unsure for Biden health secretary nominee Xavier Becerra straitstimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from straitstimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The U.S. Senate Finance Committee deadlocked on Wednesday over President Joe Biden's pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, raising questions about Democrats' ability to overcome Republican opposition to the California attorney general.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Finance Committee deadlocked on Wednesday over President Joe Biden’s pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, raising questions about Democrats’ ability to overcome Republican opposition to the California attorney general.
FILE PHOTO: Xavier Becerra, nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, answers questions during his Senate Finance Committee nomination hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington,, February 24, 2021. Greg Nash/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
The 14-14 party-line vote sent Becerra’s nomination to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell for further action. Under new rules to deal with the 50-50 Senate split between the two parties, either can file a motion to bypass a tied committee and bring matters straight to the Senate floor with a separate procedural vote.
Senate panel ties on HHS nominee Becerra, advances USTR, Treasury nominees nationalpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nationalpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Health 202: The era of bipartisan work on lowering drug prices might be over Paige Winfield Cunningham
with Alexandra Ellerbeck Dare we say it: The window for bipartisan work on drug pricing reform may be closed. Sen. Ron Wyden, top Democrat on the powerful Senate Finance Committee, is focusing on a wish-list item for Democrats but poison pill for the GOP: eliminating a ban on the federal government using its negotiating power to directly force lower drug prices under Medicare. “I think we’ve got to take bold action on prescription drug prices,” Wyden (Ore.) told reporters yesterday. “We’re going to be looking at all the tools to get this done.”