Reports: Senate committee approves Mnuchin, Price, changing rules

Wednesday, February 1st 2017, 9:53 am EST
By Kimberly Wright

(RNN) - Republicans on a Senate committee have approved Steve Mnunchin, Trump's nominee for treasury secretary, and Tom Price, the nominee for health secretary.

To avoid a Democratic boycott of the committee, the GOP members on the committee changed the rules to allow the confirmation to proceed to the Senate floor.

Price, R-GA, is a former physician and was a leading critic of the Obama Administration's signature law, the Affordable Care Act. He has introduced multiple bills in the last six years in an attempt to replace what's commonly known as "Obamacare."

Mnuchin, an investor, has been criticized for his Wall Street ties.

Democrats decided to stall Mnuchin's confirmation hearing after reports surfaced that he misled the Senate on his business record. He told the Senate Committee on Finance that his former bank, OneWest, did not use robo-signing to speed up the approval of foreclosures. The Colombus-Dispatch, however, run a report on Sunday claiming that Mnuchin and his bank did use the controversial practice.

Press Secretary Sean Spicer has been criticizing Democrats for stalling the nomination process for Trump's nominees.

The political environment has been particularly contentious since the executive order stopping refugees and visitors from seven countries.

Some confirmations have proceeded in the Senate, however. Elaine Chao was confirmed as secretary of transportation Tuesday.

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http://www.wbrc.com/story/34399013/r...changing-rules