WASHINGTON – In the dead of night, the Senate voted to confirm Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) as Secretary of Health and Human Services. The vote was 52 to 47, along party lines, with Democratic Senators unanimously opposing Price, a drug corporation insider who has pushed legislation that would benefit corporations in which he has investments. Price also wants to dismantle Medicaid and Medicare, health programs that families have counted on for more than 50 years to cover everything from early childhood screenings to nursing home care.

LeeAnn Hall, co-director of People’s Action, provided the following statement:

“Donald Trump, his Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the entire right-wing Congress are plotting to take away health care from tens of millions of people, a move that is wildly unpopular. The health care uprising is just beginning.

“We won’t tolerate more corporate profiteering while people struggle to get the treatment and medications they need. We won’t tolerate people being told they don’t deserve health care because they’re not rich enough, they’re not the right gender, they weren’t born in the right place, or they have a preexisting condition. We believe in a United States that cares for everyone, where people matter more than corporations and insiders lining their pockets.”