Trump’s top health official gets bipartisan grilling
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s top health official got strong pushback Wednesday from lawmakers of both parties about deep cuts the White House is pressing in medical research, public health and social service programs.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price also dodged repeated attempts by Democrats to flush out the administration’s next move on the Obama-era health insurance law. President Donald Trump’s push to repeal the health care law failed last week because of disagreement among Republicans.
“This is a tough budget year. There’s no doubt about it,” Price told the House panel that oversees his budget. When Democrats accused him of trying to dismantle a government department that provides vital services, he shot back: “It is not the goal of this secretary to deconstruct the department.” Democrats were pummeling Price with a phrase used by White House strategist Stephen Bannon, who has said “deconstruction of the administrative state” is Trump’s mission.
Most of the $1 trillion-plus HHS spends is for entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid, which are insulated from the annual budgeting process, called appropriations. But the White House wants a 16 per cent cut in everything else. The National Institutes of Health, the nation’s premier medical research institution, faces a cut of nearly 20 per cent.