Senate confirms Tom Price as health secretary

On 10 February 2017 the U.S. Senate confirmed Representative Tom Price of Georgia as secretary of health and human services by 52 votes to 47, along party lines. Price, an orthopaedic surgeon, had been a leading critic of the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans were seeking to repeal.

A narrow confirmation to lead federal health policy

On 10 February 2017, the U.S. Senate confirmed Republican congressman Tom Price as secretary of Health and Human Services by 52 votes to 47. Price, a Georgia physician and longtime critic of the Affordable Care Act, had been selected by President Donald Trump after the November 2016 election. Democrats questioned his record of trading health-related stocks and his support for changing health insurance programmes. Republicans argued that his medical background and legislative experience made him qualified to lead the department.

Vice President Mike Pence administered the oath that day. The department supervises programmes and agencies affecting Medicare, Medicaid, public health and medical research. Price's appointment therefore put a prominent opponent of the Obama-era insurance expansion in an office with significant influence over regulation, while Congress retained control over statutory repeal. The selection became a major personnel step in the Trump administration's effort to redirect the Affordable Care Act debate.

The Senate majority nevertheless approved the nomination, making Price the new cabinet officer on 10 February. Confirmation did not itself repeal the Affordable Care Act; major provisions still required congressional action. Nor did the vote establish that Price had committed securities wrongdoing. His later resignation over costly official travel was a separate event in September 2017. The February fact is the contested but completed selection of a federal health administrator, with immediate consequences for departmental priorities and executive implementation.