Senators Baldwin, Franken, Warren: Delay Tom Price Hearing Until Ethics Concerns are Investigated & Resolved

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Al Franken (D-MN) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said allegations that Congressman Tom Price participated in questionable stock trading should be resolved before his nomination hearing to become Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) moves forward.

At the moment, the hearing is scheduled to begin tomorrow morning in the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, of which all three Senators are members.

In the past few days, a number of serious ethics concerns have been raised about stock trades made by Congressman Tom Price while in office. Reports have revealed that the Congressman traded more than $300,000 in shares of health companies while simultaneously sponsoring and advocating for legislation that could potentially affect those companies’ stocks. In light of that, the Senators called on HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander to delay the hearing until these ethics issues are addressed.                        

“Allowing Congressman Price’s nomination to move to a hearing with questions about his ethical qualifications left unanswered would send an early, clear, and deeply troubling signal that the Senate’s critical oversight functions will be given a back seat to the demands of the Trump Administration,” wrote the Senators.

They continued: “Families across the country—those who voted for the incoming Administration and those who did not—voted for a government that works to advance their needs, not those of its highest-ranking officials. We urge you to listen to them, by committing to postpone Congressman Price’s hearing until these ethics issues are fully investigated and addressed.”

Over the weekend, Senators Baldwin, Franken and Warren sent Congressman Price a list of questions they want answered about his questionable stock trading, which you can read here.                                     

You can read today’s letter to Chairman Alexander by clicking here.