The White House is using the recess appointment process to seat Harvard health policy professor and former pediatrician Donald Berwick MD at the helm of CMS. The move by the Obama administration avoids Senate confirmation hearings and any further delay of Dr. Berwick overseeing the agency running the Medicare program.
Republicans are unhappy that they are losing the chance to question Dr. Berwick on his positions regarding public run health care and previous statements he has made about rationing health care. Sen. John Barrasso MD, an orthopedic surgeon, (R-Wyo.) states:
"This recess appointment is an insult to the American people. Dr. Berwick is a self professed supporter of rationing health care and he won't even have to explain his views to the American people in a Congressional hearing. Once again, President Obama has made a mockery of his pledge to be accountable and transparent."
The White House says Republicans "have made it clear in recent weeks that they were going to stall the nomination as long as they could, solely to score political points."
"There's no time to waste with Washington game playing," says Dan Pfeiffer, the communications director at the White House. The recess appointment is expected to be made on Wednesday, July 7, he adds.