Ron Wyden Torches Trump's Deputy HHS Secretary Nominee, Warns He Will 'Do Whatever' RFK Says

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During remarks on the Senate floor Thursday, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) spoke about the nomination of James O'Neill to serve as Deputy HHS Secretary.

Transcript

00:00Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Kirsta Heckmeyer of our team be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the Congress.

00:07Without objection.

00:09Mr. President, I urge a no vote on Jim O'Neill to be the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

00:17His nomination comes before the Senate as Republicans push ahead on an agenda that is going to cut Americans' health care

00:25by more than a trillion dollars and caused 16 million Americans to lose their health coverage.

00:32The legislation is filled with ideas straight out of the for-profit insurance industry's playbook.

00:41Republicans are rolling out more red tape at a time when Americans are already sick of jumping through hoops

00:48so that insurance companies can continue to post profits.

00:52The legislation, in my view, is also a disaster for America's senior citizens.

01:01A million low-income seniors are going to see their Medicare premiums go up by nearly $200 a month.

01:08The legislation is going to make nursing homes less safe for frail, older people.

01:14In a word, they are going to start taking the nurses out of nursing homes.

01:20If Mehmet Oz has his way, nursing homes would replace staff with AI bots.

01:26That is not going to work for a senior who needs help getting to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

01:33The legislation is going to hurt hundreds of thousands of seniors and kids with disabilities

01:37by reducing services for those who count on Medicaid to get care at home.

01:43Now, Americans have heard a lot about Medicaid in the bill, but the legislation is such a deficit buster

01:51that it's going to trigger $500 billion in Medicare cuts.

01:57This legislation is going to hit rural hospitals like a wrecking ball.

02:01This comes on top of the Trump administration stepping back from tough negotiations

02:09with the big pharmaceutical companies that would lower the cost of medicine.

02:14So here's the truth.

02:15Trump and the Republicans are willing to kick millions of folks off their health insurance

02:20and hurt older Americans so there'll be more tax breaks for corporations and the ultra-wealthy.

02:27Now, I asked Mr. O'Neill and the Finance Committee to basically give us a straight up or down

02:33on whether he's going to oppose cutting Medicaid, and I did that as part of the confirmation process.

02:40All he would do was repeat the same tired talking points

02:43about how only certain groups of people deserve health care.

02:48The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are simply unwilling to defend the bill.

02:54They know it's morally bankrupt.

02:57They basically won't even talk about it in public.

03:00I guess that's why we're not having an open-to-all-finance committee discussion, a markup of the bill,

03:08because I guess the Republicans would rather just pretend to make up what the bill actually is all about.

03:16Now, Mr. O'Neill has gone out of his way to defend Robert Kennedy's disastrous approach

03:20to prevent infectious diseases like measles.

03:25To make matters worse, Mr. O'Neill expressed his support for Kennedy's appalling views

03:30about the livelihoods of Americans with autism.

03:34As Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mr. O'Neill would be Robert Kennedy's right-hand man.

03:41That person needs to be willing to challenge the Secretary's worst impulses,

03:46which the American people have now seen on full display.

03:50I see no evidence Mr. O'Neill is that person.

03:53Each day, Americans turn on the TV, pick up a newspaper, or turn on radio stations and podcasts

04:00only to hear that Donald Trump and his allies are ripping away basic health care

04:05from millions of Americans who are just trying to get by.

04:09These families are worried sick about what will be next on the chopping block.

04:14I want to make it clear I don't think it makes sense to support a nominee

04:18who will do whatever Robert Kennedy says, including destroying Medicaid

04:22and the rest of the American health care system.

04:26I urge my colleagues to vote no on the O'Neill nomination. I yield back.

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