Democrats, who have called for an SEC investigation into Tom Price’s stock trades, continued their attacks on what they call his conflicts of interest. | M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO Democrats pummel Price on stock trades, sweetheart deals Ethics questions overshadow Obamacare debate as minority members seek to slow confirmation.

Democrats hammered Rep. Tom Price's stock trades and "sweetheart deals," but the HHS Secretary designate survived a contentious hearing on Wednesday that seemed designed to slow, if not stall, his confirmation to a role in which he will help dismantle the Affordable Care Act.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) demanded to know whether Price had actively tried to "help the company that you now own stock in." It was one of the only moments in the nearly four-hour grilling by the Senate HELP Committee when Price flashed anger. "I'm offended by the insinuation, senator," he responded.


Democrats, who have called for an SEC investigation into Price’s stock trades, continued their attacks on what they call his conflicts of interest, challenging him to explain why he traded health care stocks worth more than $300,000 over the last four years and raising new issues, such as his purchase of biotech company stock at discounted prices, before next week’s more important hearing before the Senate Finance committee. Unlike HELP members, Finance members will vote as a committee on Price’s nomination.

Democrats lack the numbers to defeat Price, but they are clearly seeking ways to tarnish him — or to convince him or President-elect Donald Trump to withdraw his name. Some believe that delaying his confirmation aids their cause since Trump has vowed to submit a plan to replace Obamacare after Price becomes HHS secretary.

"Democrats' leverage in these televised hearings is limited to shining a harsh light on nominee ethics, experience and policy — or all three," said Sarah Binder of the Brookings Institution. "The more negative press Democrats can generate against the nominees — and the more questions they can raise about potential red flags in nominees' incomplete ethics agreements — the greater their leverage in refusing to consent to [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell's demands for quick confirmation votes."

Perhaps for that reason, arguments over ethics overshadowed the deep divides between Democrats and the deeply conservative Price on the future of the Affordable Care Act, his support for moving towards privatizing Medicare, the government’s role in reproductive health and other policies. Price deflected many questions by saying they would be up to Congress.

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) dove into Price's purchase of more than $50,000 in shares of Innate Immunotherapeutics, an Australian biotech company that Price bought as an early investor and which has since doubled in value and which Franken called a "sweetheart deal."

Price insisted he was unaware he had gotten a discounted price for the stock.

“It was a private offering that only went to about 20 people, including your colleague Chris Collins, his chief of staff [and] a prominent D.C. lobbyist," Franken shot back. "And you reported $50,000 to $100,000 in profits on this purchase. It really begs credulity, sir, when you say you did not know that you got a discount on this."

Franken also referenced Price’s purchase of $2,678 in the stock of Zimmer Biomet, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of hip and knee implants, just days before introducing legislation that would have helped Zimmer.

The Minnesota Democrat also raised new questions about why Price — as a physician — owned shares in tobacco companies for nearly 20 years and voted against legislation that would have hurt those firms. Price said he had no knowledge of those stock holdings and suspected that they were purchased through mutual funds.

"Our job … is to avoid the appearance of conflict," Franken said. "Boy, you have not done this."

Price repeatedly responded that most such trades were made by his broker without his knowledge, an argument that Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) found lacking.

"Why wouldn't you at least tell her, ‘Hey listen, stay clear of any companies that are directly affected by my legislative work?’" Murphy asked. “This whole administration is starting to look like a get rich quick scheme," he added, lumping Price's stock trades with Trump's decision to not divest from his business.

Republicans, for their part, closed ranks around Price, portraying him as a public-spirited doctor-lawmaker, who had the temperament to work with people of opposing views and forge compromise.

“I have to commend Donald Trump for picking you," said Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who will lead the Senate Finance Committee hearing on Price next week. "You are one of the really premier people in the whole Congress and in the world … understanding what needs to be done."

"Did you go into public service to enrich yourself?" asked Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a fellow physician-turned-lawmaker. "I'm guessing it was a pay cut."

Democrats also tried to drive a wedge between Trump, who's promised to protect entitlement programs, and Price's desire to overhaul them. In a contentious exchange, Warren hammered Price on his prior proposals to reduce Medicare and Medicaid funding by more than $1 trillion.

"Can you reassure the committee that you will not cut one dollar from Medicare or Medicaid?" Warren asked, repeating and reframing the question in several ways. Price declined to answer the question directly.

Price did affirm his support for Trump's promise to provide "insurance for everybody" — a statement that's bedeviled congressional Republicans, who have avoided pledging their Obamacare replacement will cover the same number of Americans.

"You share his goal of insurance for everybody?" Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) asked.

"That has always been my stated goal," Price responded. In the past, he has proposed policies that would allow insurers to sell plans with fewer benefit requirements than the comprehensive package under Obamacare.

Price — a longtime skeptic of big government now in line to lead the nation's largest federal agency — sought to embrace the agency and the services he's attacked. "There are heroes among the talented, dedicated men and women working to provide critical social services," he said in his opening statement.

He also offered qualified praise for Medicare's Innovation Center, a body created by the Affordable Care Act to test new ways to pay doctors, hospitals and other caregivers, and which Price had previously attacked for federal overreach. The center "has great possibility and great promise," Price allowed.

Price's hearing was the committee's longest confirmation hearing for an HHS secretary in more than 20 years, said Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.). But it didn't sway skeptics like the National Physicians Alliance, one of the few medical associations to oppose Price's nomination.

"The hearings today did nothing to assuage my concerns and frankly were way too short," said Manan Trivedi, NPA's head.

The hearing — courtesy in name only — began with an acrimonious exchange, with Democrats unhappy they were limited to only one round of questions. "The Benghazi hearings were 11 hours, that's all I'm saying," Franken groused later.

At times, committee members seemed more focused on zinging each other than on grilling Price.

"Thank you for this anger management hearing," Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said, before mocking Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) for raising his voice. "I just thought I would bring up that the audio system is working."

