Sen. Susan Collins on Wednesday said Donald Trump’s nominees for key health positions should be carefully vetted.
Speaking at an event hosted by Axios on the future of cognitive care, the Republican senator from Maine said she “argued strenuously” against recess appointments, which have been floated by President-elect Donald Trump and could bypass scrutiny of controversial high-level appointees that require Senate confirmation.
Collins said recess appointments would “avoid and evade the Senate’s constitutional duty to do advice and consent, and to me, that means a background check, it means extensive committee investigations and questionnaires and public hearings at which we can ask these individuals questions.”
She specifically made reference to Department of Heath and Human Services positions.
Trump has said he will nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an outspoken vaccine skeptic, to lead HHS. Additionally, the president-elect picked Dr. Mehmet Oz, a physician and TV celebrity, for administrator of the U.S Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a department within HHS.
Collins said the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, on which she serves, will have a hearing on the appointments.
“And I’m looking forward to asking those questions,” Collins said. “I think they’re really important.”
