Democrats Zero In On Trump Corruption With Call For Investigation Of HHS Nominee

Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:46 pm

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Senate Democrats are calling for the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate Trump’s HHS nominee, Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) for making $300,000 in trades in healthcare stocks while pushing legislation that would impact the stock price of the companies Price owned shares in.

Video of Senate Democratic leadership demanding that Price’s nomination not move forward until an investigation has been completed:

Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said, “These reports that Congressman Price traded hundreds of thousands of dollars in health-related stock while, as a senior member of Congress, advocating for legislation that impacted those very companies’ stock prices should shock and appall every American. That’s why Senate Democrats today are calling on the House Office of Congressional Ethics – the very office Republicans moved to gut behind closed doors as their first order of business in the new Congress – to investigate Price for these potentially serious violations. In the spirit of ‘draining the swamp,’ we need to ensure that our nominees for top cabinet posts prioritize the welfare of all Americans over their own financial gain.”

The Wall Street Journal reported that Price bought and sold stock 40 healthcare related companies while sponsoring or cosponsoring 44 health-related bills in the House.

What Price did raises questions about whether or not he broke the law. As Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said, “These are very serious questions and the American people deserve answers. People need to have confidence that our top cabinet officials are focused on serving American families, not boosting their own stock portfolios.”

The heart of the question is whether or not Price violated the STOCK Act which prohibits members of Congress and the employees from using non-public information gained by their position to personally profit on stock trades.

Democrats are going to use the confirmation process to shine a light on Trump corruption. If a president like all human beings is defined the company they keep, Donald Trump is stacking his administration with some very shady characters.

Tom Price may be one of the first Trump nominees that Democrats have called for an investigation into, but here’s betting that he almost certainly won’t be the last.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association