Red-state Democrat: I’ll oppose Trump’s health chief

Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) said Tuesday that he will oppose President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. 

“Tom Price has led the charge to privatize Medicare, and for this reason, I cannot support his nomination,” Donnelly said in a statement. 

{mosads}Donnelly added that while he is willing to work with anyone to improve healthcare, he believes Price would “put us on a direct path to end Medicare as we know it.” 

Democrats have largely panned Price’s nomination but stopped short of saying they will oppose him. 

Trump has rejected the idea of substantial changes to Medicare, but Price — a chief critic of the Affordable Care Act — has backed proposals to raise the Medicare eligibility age and make enrollees eligible to buy private coverage. 

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who will lead Senate Democrats next year, compared Price “to asking the fox to guard the hen house.”

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who like Donnelly is up for reelection in 2018 in a state carried by Trump in the presidential election, called Trump’s choice a “betrayal” of his campaign pledge to hold the line on Medicare. 

“You can bet we will do everything in our power to block any attempt to hand the Medicare program that seniors have worked their whole lives for over to Wall Street,” he said.

Republicans have praised Price’s nomination, which will need only a simple majority to clear the upper chamber because of Democrats’ decision to go “nuclear” and get rid of the 60-vote threshold for most nominations.  

Republicans are expected to have a 52-seat majority next year, meaning they can lose two GOP senators before they’ll need support from Democrats to approve Price.

But GOP leadership has floated that Democrats up for reelection in 2018 in red and purple states won by Trump would be eager to help approve the president-elect’s nominees. 

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin became the first Democrat to say he would support Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions’s nomination to be attorney general.