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| What to Watch: Price Will Face Grilling From Democrats | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| WASHINGTON — Two of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s most contentious cabinet nominees will offer vigorous defenses of their records as they appear before congressional hearing panels. | |
| ■ Representative Tom Price of Georgia, the nominee for health and human services secretary, will talk about how he thinks regulation hurts the system. | |
| ■ Scott Pruitt, Mr. Trump’s selection to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, will discuss his philosophy of putting states first on regulatory matters. | |
| ■ Looking ahead: An increasing number of House Democrats say they will skip Mr. Trump’s inauguration on Friday. | |
| Mr. Price was prepared for a contentious confirmation hearing, with an earthy life story, and a conservative rationale for his views on health care. | Mr. Price was prepared for a contentious confirmation hearing, with an earthy life story, and a conservative rationale for his views on health care. |
| The 62-year-old orthopedic surgeon from the affluent northern suburbs of Atlanta said he had been interested in medicine from an early age. His father and his paternal grandfather were also physicians, and he said he had made house calls with his grandfather to see patients. | The 62-year-old orthopedic surgeon from the affluent northern suburbs of Atlanta said he had been interested in medicine from an early age. His father and his paternal grandfather were also physicians, and he said he had made house calls with his grandfather to see patients. |
| In remarks prepared for the committee hearing, Mr. Price explained how he became concerned about the burden imposed on doctors by insurance companies and federal regulators. | In remarks prepared for the committee hearing, Mr. Price explained how he became concerned about the burden imposed on doctors by insurance companies and federal regulators. |
| “I noticed that there were more individuals within our office who were dealing with paperwork, insurance filings and government regulations than there were individuals actually seeing and treating patients,” Mr. Price said. “It was in those moments that it became crystal clear that our health care system was losing focus on the No. 1 priority – the individual patient.” | “I noticed that there were more individuals within our office who were dealing with paperwork, insurance filings and government regulations than there were individuals actually seeing and treating patients,” Mr. Price said. “It was in those moments that it became crystal clear that our health care system was losing focus on the No. 1 priority – the individual patient.” |
| Mr. Price said he was qualified to lead the Department of Health and Human Services because of his experience as a doctor and a legislator. He practiced surgery for about 20 years, served in the Georgia State Senate from 1997 through 2004 and since 2005 has been a member of Congress, serving most recently as chairman of the House Budget Committee. | Mr. Price said he was qualified to lead the Department of Health and Human Services because of his experience as a doctor and a legislator. He practiced surgery for about 20 years, served in the Georgia State Senate from 1997 through 2004 and since 2005 has been a member of Congress, serving most recently as chairman of the House Budget Committee. |
| Mr. Price is a top critic of the Affordable Care Act and a proponent of overhauling the Medicare system, Mr. Price has seen his nomination consumed recently by several damaging news reports. | Mr. Price is a top critic of the Affordable Care Act and a proponent of overhauling the Medicare system, Mr. Price has seen his nomination consumed recently by several damaging news reports. |
| (Among them: a Wall Street Journal article reporting that Mr. Price traded more than $300,000 in health care stocks over four years while advocating or sponsoring legislation that could have increased their value, and a CNN report that he purchased shares in a medical device company shortly before introducing legislation to delay regulations that could have significantly harmed the company.) | (Among them: a Wall Street Journal article reporting that Mr. Price traded more than $300,000 in health care stocks over four years while advocating or sponsoring legislation that could have increased their value, and a CNN report that he purchased shares in a medical device company shortly before introducing legislation to delay regulations that could have significantly harmed the company.) |
| Democrats appear eager to train their fire on Mr. Price. Zac Petkanas, a senior adviser at the Democratic National Committee who oversees the party’s “Trump war room,” called Mr. Price “potentially one of the most corrupt cabinet nominees, if not the most corrupt cabinet nominee, that Donald Trump has put forward.” | Democrats appear eager to train their fire on Mr. Price. Zac Petkanas, a senior adviser at the Democratic National Committee who oversees the party’s “Trump war room,” called Mr. Price “potentially one of the most corrupt cabinet nominees, if not the most corrupt cabinet nominee, that Donald Trump has put forward.” |
| A group of Democratic senators also called on Tuesday for Mr. Price’s hearing to be postponed until all potential ethics issues are fully investigated. | A group of Democratic senators also called on Tuesday for Mr. Price’s hearing to be postponed until all potential ethics issues are fully investigated. |
| Mr. Price, like other candidates for cabinet jobs in the Trump administration, will be subject to confirmation by the full Senate. | Mr. Price, like other candidates for cabinet jobs in the Trump administration, will be subject to confirmation by the full Senate. |
| The hearing on Wednesday is being held by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, headed by Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee. But that panel does not vote on the nomination. | |
| Another hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday by the Senate Finance Committee, which will vote on whether to recommend confirmation. The two committees share authority over issues for which the Health and Human Services Department is responsible. | |
| Mr. Pruitt comes into his confirmation hearing to lead the Environmental Protection Agency on the offense, holding up of the most controversial elements of his record as a sign of success, and forcefully advocating for a states’-rights, federalist approach to regulation. | |
| Outside the Senate hearing room, environmental protesters were lined up around the corner, preparing to demonstrate. Groups like the Sierra Club, the Moms Clean Air Task Force, and 350.org, which led the protests against the Keystone XL oil pipeline, were also planning street protests outside the Senate building. | |
| One of the elements of Mr. Pruitt’s record that has drawn the most criticism: his handling of a 2005 pollution case brought by his predecessor against about a dozen Oklahoma and Arizona poultry farms that had fouled the waters of Oklahoma’s Illinois River watershed with runoff from the animals’ manure. | |
| After executives of those chicken companies donated tens of thousands of dollars to Mr. Pruitt’s 2010 campaign for Oklahoma attorney general, Mr. Pruitt put the brakes on the lawsuit, instead reaching a settlement — which has since expired — that simply required a study of the river’s pollution, with no penalties for the polluting companies. | |
| Some environmental groups have pointed to the case as a key example of their opposition to Mr. Pruitt, saying he favors industry donors over environmental protection. | |
| Mr. Pruitt will tell senators that the case is an example of his philosophy of putting states first. “It’s well understood that interstate water issues are among the most challenging in environmental law and policy,” Mr. Pruitt will say, according to his prepared testimony. “However, I worked with my Democratic counterpart in Arkansas to reach an historic agreement to clean up that river.” | |
| The final agreement essentially bypassed any federal regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency, but Mr. Pruitt will nod to the fact that the agency could have stepped in. “While this was a proud success of cooperation among the states, I also came to appreciate that if we had not solved these challenges among us, E.P.A. would provide a vital function in ensuring the protection of the shared resources.” | |
| Over all, however, the man Mr. Trump has chosen to lead the agency charged with overseeing federal environmental protections will offer criticism of federal oversight and a vision in which most regulatory authority is returned to states. He will also offer a forceful critique of the E.P.A. In particular, the agency has taken on a central role in writing and overseeing President Obama’s signature climate change policy, the Clean Power Plan, which would require states to curb their greenhouse gas pollution from power plants. Mr. Pruitt has played a lead role in a 27-state lawsuit against the plan, which charges that the agency has vastly overstepped its authority. | |
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| It has become the question du jour for every Democrat on Capitol Hill: Will you join the growing boycott of Mr. Trump’s inauguration? | It has become the question du jour for every Democrat on Capitol Hill: Will you join the growing boycott of Mr. Trump’s inauguration? |
| The list of House Democrats skipping the event has ballooned to more than 50 since Mr. Trump lashed out at Representative John Lewis, Democrat of Georgia, the civil rights icon who had questioned the legitimacy of Mr. Trump’s victory. | The list of House Democrats skipping the event has ballooned to more than 50 since Mr. Trump lashed out at Representative John Lewis, Democrat of Georgia, the civil rights icon who had questioned the legitimacy of Mr. Trump’s victory. |
| So far, most of the boycotters come from districts that decisively favored Hillary Clinton. What bears watching now is whether any Senate Democrats will see it fit to join. | So far, most of the boycotters come from districts that decisively favored Hillary Clinton. What bears watching now is whether any Senate Democrats will see it fit to join. |
| Two weeks ago, senators seemed to offer a preview. At a joint session of Congress to validate the Electoral College results, several House Democrats sought to object to Mr. Trump’s election, citing claims of voter suppression and Russian interference in the process, among other issues. But the members were permitted to make only formal, written objections if a senator joined the effort as well. None did. | Two weeks ago, senators seemed to offer a preview. At a joint session of Congress to validate the Electoral College results, several House Democrats sought to object to Mr. Trump’s election, citing claims of voter suppression and Russian interference in the process, among other issues. But the members were permitted to make only formal, written objections if a senator joined the effort as well. None did. |