WASHINGTON — In a letter to President Barack Obama sent yesterday, 42 Senate Republicans asked him to withdraw the nomination of Donald Berwick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Spearheaded by Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, the letter said Obama's recess appointment of Berwick last year was completed before a hearing could be held, short-circuiting the Senate's ability to consider his nomination in the 111th Congress.
According to the letter, "This abrupt and unilateral action meant that no Senator — Democrat or Republican — was given the opportunity to ask Dr. Berwick a single question before he was placed in charge of an agency with a budget larger than the Department of Defense, which controls 4 percent of our nation's gross domestic product (GDP), and, most importantly, directly impacts more than 100 million American lives every single day."
Obama first nominated the Harvard professor and pediatrician for the CMS post in April 2010. But when Republicans threatened to stall his confirmation saying Berwick's past statements showed support for health care rationing, the president used a recess appointment to put him in the job last summer.
Under recess appointment rules, Berwick can remain as administrator of the massive agency only until the end of 2011 unless he can be confirmed. The president renominated Berwick in January when the 112th Congress began.
"You repeatedly pledged, both as a candidate and as President that you would usher in a new era of transparency in our government. However, the process used in the enactment of the health care law, combined with the end-run around Congress with the recess appointment of Dr. Berwick, both contradict your pledge," the senators wrote.
They added, "Once you have withdrawn his nomination, we are confident we can all work together to find a nominee for Administrator we can support and confirm after appropriate hearings are held."
Five GOP senators — Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Rob Portman of Ohio — did not sign the letter. Republicans would need 41 votes to block Berwick's confirmation by the full Senate.
In response to the letter, a White House spokesman told The Associated Press that Berwick is "far and away the best person for the job."
Read the full text of the senators' letter.