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Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), declined to say he would commit to opposing cuts to Medicaid, a government program that provides health care coverage to millions of Americans and that Republicans are eyeing for steep cuts.
At his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Friday, Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon who hosted a popular daytime talk show, dodged questions from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on cuts to Medicaid.
Oz pointed to his past experience with the program but was quickly interrupted by Wyden, who repeated his question.
“I want to make sure that patients today and in the future have the resources to protect them if they get ill,” Oz replied. “The way you protect Medicaid is by making sure that it’s viable at every level, which includes having enough practitioners to afford the services, paying them enough to do what you request of them, and making sure that patients are actually able to use Medicaid.”
“Let the record show that I asked a witness who said he cherishes this program, ‘Will you agree to oppose cuts?’” Wyden said, “and he would not answer a yes-or-no question.”
Republicans in Congress have proposed deep cuts to Medicaid, which provides coverage to some 83 million Americans who are low-income or have disabilities. Last month, GOP lawmakers directed the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid, to find at least $880 billion in cuts to its programs.
Some Republicans have said they do not want to slash funding for Medicaid or Medicare, and Trump himself has said neither program “is going to be touched.” But the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office calculated that Republicans are unlikely to reach their budget goals to advance Trump’s agenda without significant cuts to either program.
Besides some light grilling from Democratic senators on the finance committee, Oz’s confirmation hearing was largely devoid of the kinds of tension faced by Trump’s other controversial Cabinet picks.
Oz did, however, echo a now-familiar line that others have used when asked a hypothetical about Trump directing them to carry out an unlawful order.
“If directed by the president to take action that would break the law, would you follow the law or follow the the president’s directive?” asked Sen. Maggie Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat.
“The president would never do that,” Oz said.
To which Hassan replied, “That’s absurd. And it’s a disappointing answer.”