Senate Democrats are boycotting a vote on Tom Price over his sweetheart deals

Senate Democrats can’t block President Trump’s Cabinet nominees on their own without a majority. But they can hold up the process in other ways — and that’s what Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee are doing today by refusing to show up to committee votes on Rep. Tom Price, the nominee for health and human services secretary, and Steve Mnunchin, the nominee for Treasury secretary.

Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the committee, says that ethics concerns about both nominees are driving the boycott:

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that it appears Price wasn’t fully honest with Congress about a sweetheart stock deal he got from an Australian biotech company: Price said the deal was available to every investor who already had put money into the company, but it turns out only about 20 people were offered the discount.

More broadly, Senate Democrats seem to have awakened to the fact that many energized liberal voters who have been showing up to protests and calling their representatives want to see more resistance to Trump and to his agenda — and if they can’t do that by filibustering nominees, they’re going to do so with boycotts.

It’s an unusual tactic but not an unprecedented one. Both parties have boycotted committee votes — which are required before a nominee can be confirmed by the full Senate — in the past:

We're here to shed some clarity

One of our core beliefs here at Vox is that everyone needs and deserves access to the information that helps them understand the world, regardless of whether they can pay for a subscription. With the 2024 election on the horizon, more people are turning to us for clear and balanced explanations of the issues and policies at stake. We’re so grateful that we’re on track to hit 85,000 contributions to the Vox Contributions program before the end of the year, which in turn helps us keep this work free. We need to add 2,500 contributions this month to hit that goal. Will you make a contribution today to help us hit this goal and support our policy coverage? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via