News Type: News Article

Republican Cuts Are Wrecking Health Care for American Families

Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., today released their latest report spotlighting the consequences of Donald Trump and Republicans’ health care nightmare, with a focus on the fallout of the Republican Big Ugly Bill. After Trump and Republicans […]

Continuing Epstein Investigation, Wyden Questions Leon Black over New Revelations in Epstein Files, Appearance of “Hush Money” Payments and Surveillance of Women

Washington, D.C. – Continuing his four-year Epstein investigation, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today released new findings and questioned Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black over his significant personal and financial entanglements with Epstein, including his massive, unexplained payments to Epstein and various women, evidence of Epstein surveilling women on his behalf, […]

Wyden, Senate Democrats Announce Legislation to Improve Medicaid for Kids, Seniors, and Families While Cracking Down on Fraud

Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today led a dozen Senate Democrats as they released legislative proposals to strengthen and invest in the Medicaid program for children, seniors, Americans with disabilities and working families, as well as draft legislation to boost federal anti-fraud initiatives. “The Republican bill is rotten to […]

Wyden: Trump’s Blanket Tariffs Are Economic Poison for U.S. Families, Farmers and Small Businesses

Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released the following statement on Donald Trump’s announcement of blanket tariffs on products Americans buy from around the world.  “American families need relief from rising prices and stagnant growth, but instead, Donald Trump—with buy-in from Congressional Republicans—is administering economic poison to our economy,” Wyden […]

Wyden Statement on Health Care Package

Washington, D.C. — Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released the following statement on the released health care package: “This package provides essential health programs and providers with certainty for the rest of the year, as well as critical updates to the Medicaid program that will expand access to mental health care and substance […]

Wyden Statement on Marjorie Rollinson’s Confirmation as IRS Chief Counsel

In a few minutes the Senate will vote on the confirmation of Marjorie Rollinson to serve as Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service. I’ll have just a few key points about why my colleagues ought to support her nomination. First off, Ms. Rollinson has the right experience necessary to do this job at a […]

Dr. Tom Price: A Vetting Timeline

Throughout the nominations process, the Senate Finance Committee, under the leadership of Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), has worked to ensure the incoming Trump Administration’s nominees are held to the same, bipartisan vetting and hearing process afforded to the Obama Administration’s nominees.   The disclosure process, while not traditionally made public with rare exception, is part of the Committee’s normal bipartisan vetting process and reconciles any potential discrepancies needed to proceed with the nomination.  By the time the confirmation hearing is held today for Dr. Tom Price to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), his vetting process will have lasted more than twice as long as the past two Health and Human Services Secretaries combined.  And as part of its long-standing practice, Chairman Hatch will maintain the Committee standard allowing members and the public to submit materials for the record.

Below is a timeline of Congressman Tom Price’s vetting process:

• November 29, 2016 – President-elect Trump Announces Nomination
  • See Hatch statement here

• December 21, 2016 – Paperwork Received (3 years tax returns and completed questionnaire), Bipartisan Vetting Process Commences:
  • Vetting process includes, but is not limited to:
    • Thorough review of tax returns and additional exchanges between the nominee and the Committee. As part of this exercise, Rep. Price submitted over 700 pages of documents.
    • Committee members are encouraged and free to set up direct one-on-one meetings with the nominee.

• January 11, 2017 – Office of Government Ethics Provides Committee with Official Financial Disclosure and Ethics Agreement

• Committee members have ample time to review the official public financial disclosure forms provided by the Office of Government Ethics, in advance of a Committee hearing

• January 17, 2017 – Hearing Noticed

• See advisory here
• Committee member staff has an opportunity to meet directly with the nominee to ask direct questions and request clarifications on positions of certain policies.

Vetting Process Duration (time between initial paperwork submission and hearing): 35 Days

Additional Background:

Under the Senate Finance Committee’s bipartisan vetting process, nominees are required to submit three years of tax returns and a completed Committee questionnaire.  After that paperwork is submitted, the bipartisan vetting process begins.  The nominee is separately required to work with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) to complete official financial disclosures and ethics agreements.  To further complete a nominee’s file, the Senate Finance Committee requires final and official financial disclosures and ethics agreements to be provided to the Committee by OGE, along with a completed background check from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Upon completion of the file and the vetting process, the Finance Committee can hold a hearing.

The process is the same process applied to President Obama’s nominees.  A timeline for the confirmation process of Obama nominees Tom Daschle, Kathleen Sebelius, and Sylvia Mathews Burwell is below:

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Hatch Hosts Governors Roundtable on Future of Medicaid

Utah Senator Says, “Our governors have a unique and important understanding of how policies from Washington trickle down to citizens in their states, and hearing from them today was an important step in the feedback process for how we can reform Medicaid to make it better for patients and taxpayers.”

WASHINGTON – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) today hosted Republican state governors for a discussion on the future of Medicaid with Republican Senate Finance Committee members.  Following the meeting, Hatch issued the following statement:

“Our governors have a unique and important understanding of how policies from Washington trickle down to citizens in their states, and hearing from them today was an important step in the feedback process for how we can reform Medicaid to make it better for patients and taxpayers.  As we work to repeal and replace Obamacare, hearing from our governors who administer the Medicaid program is a prudent way to gain the insight and input needed to help decide the best path forward. It was a pleasure hosting the governors for the roundtable, and I thank them for their time, advice, and commitment to work together as we continue the conversation regarding the future of Medicaid.” 

The following attended the roundtable:

Governor Asa Hutchinson, State of Arkansas

Governor Rick Scott, State of Florida

Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter, State of Idaho

Governor Terry E. Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds, State of Iowa

Lt. Governor Jeff Colyer, M.D., State of Kansas

Governor Rick Snyder, State of Michigan

Governor John R. Kasich, State of Ohio

Governor Dennis Daugaard, State of South Dakota

Governor Greg Abbott, State of Texas

Governor Gary R. Herbert, State of Utah

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Solicitation for Comment: Commercial IT Contracting

Over the past several months, the Senate Finance Committee (“Committee”) has been examining federal information technology (“IT”) contracting practices.  To assist the Committee in better understanding these practices, Chairman Hatch is now requesting additional feedback from the commercial IT contracting community on the use of commercial or non-developmental products by federal agencies.  This link provides […]

A Robust Trade Agenda to Help Move America Forward, Finance Committee Chairman Paves the Way for Renewal of Trade Promotion Authority

Sought by Republican and Democrat Administrations for decades, Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) has been essential to negotiating and implementing high-standard trade agreements which have benefited American workers, farmers, ranchers, and businesses with higher paying jobs, greater economic opportunity, and increased access for American products in international markets. On April 16, 2015, Senate Finance Committee Chairman […]