[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 83 (Thursday, May 13, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S2516]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  NOMINATION OF CHIQUITA BROOKS-LaSURE

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr President, it is generally my policy to defer to a 
President and to allow them to choose their Cabinet, provided the 
nominees are qualified and will follow the law. Even though I may have 
disagreed with President Biden's nominees ideologically, I have voted 
for many of his nominees. This includes Ms. Andrea Palm for Deputy 
Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services. Unlike many 
Senators who voted against virtually all of President Trump's nominees, 
it is my philosophy that a President should be able to select those 
whom he wants to serve in his administration, provided that they are 
qualified and meet the most basic of tests.
  President Biden has nominated Ms. Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to be 
Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CMS. 
I have met with the nominee and appreciate her commitment to our shared 
priorities, including lowering prescription drug costs in a bipartisan 
manner and maintaining essential medical services for rural Americans. 
I also remain committed to oversight of the executive branch, including 
CMS, to uphold our system of checks and balances. If Ms. Brooks-LaSure 
is confirmed, I look forward to working with her on these shared 
priorities and others as a senior member of the Committee on Finance. 
Ms. Brooks-LaSure has decades of health care experience, including at 
the Office of Management and Budget, on the House of Representative's 
Ways and Means Committee, at the Department of Health and Human 
Services, and in the private sector. Ms. Brooks-LaSure is qualified to 
serve as Administrator of CMS, and I personally do not have concerns 
about her nomination despite ideological differences.
  However, I opposed Ms. Brooks-LaSure's confirmation out of the 
Committee on Finance at the request of Senator John Cornyn of Texas. On 
April 22, 2021, the Finance Committee voted 14 to 14 on Ms. Brooks-
LaSure's nomination, with all Republican committee members opposing 
moving the nomination forward. This effort was to give Senator Cornyn 
time to work with the Biden administration to address concerns about 
the CMS recent revoking of their section 1115 Medicaid waiver. I have 
opposed advancing other nominees of both parties in the past as part of 
my oversight responsibilities since it is one of the few tools we have 
in the Senate to extract answers from the executive branch. The Biden 
administration took an unprecedented action to revoke without 
consultation the State's Medicaid waiver. By supporting Senator 
Cornyn's effort, I was hopeful the Biden administration could 
adequately address Texas's concerns. To date, there has not been 
progress made; therefore, I again opposed advancing this nomination, 
not with an intent to permanently block her confirmation, but as an 
exercise of Congress's check on the executive branch in hopes that it 
will engage with Senator Cornyn in good faith to resolve this matter 
that is so important to his home State.

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