Fiery Murphy could raise profile in Trump years
Sen. Chris Murphy has emerged from the rubble that is the post-election national Democratic Party as a potential future party leader. Expect him to raise his profile nationally as the Democrats play the role of loyal opposition in a Republican-controlled Washington.
Murphy wasted no time going after U.S. Rep. Tom Price, R-Georgia, who faces confirmation hearings as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to serve as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“I will not support Tom Price for Secretary,” Murphy said in a statement issued soon after the Trump transition team announced the pick. “Tom Price was the face and the voice of the Republicans’ effort to privatize Medicare and repeal health coverage for 20 million Americans. I will not be any part of the Republicans’ plan to drastically cut benefits to seniors by turning their Medicare benefit into a voucher. And I will not support a nominee who has made it clear he wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with absolutely nothing.
“This will be one of the biggest fights that Congress will have with the new administration, and it starts with this nomination,” Murphy said.
A demoralized team can use that kind of fight. As a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Murphy should get the chance to grill Price.
Yet there is little doubt that Price will win confirmation. As for being “the face and the voice” for repealing Obamacare, repeal was a major plank in the Trump platform. Why not pick someone like Price? The charge of proposing “absolutely nothing” to replace it would be a fair criticism aimed at many Republicans, including Trump, but not Price. He has proposed using tax credits to encourage the purchase of health insurance policies; creating incentives for wider use of health savings accounts; allowing insurers to sell policies across state lines; and providing state grants to subsidize insurance for high-cost patients.
As for Price’s support for introducing vouchers into the Medicare system, Trump has rejected that idea and vowed to defend Medicare. We shall see.
Subtlety is not terribly effective in politics. Trump demonstrated that. No surprise then that Murphy chose a full, frontal attack on Price.
On Trump’s pick for secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, Betsy DeVos, who will also appear before Murphy’s committee, the senator was slightly more restrained. He stopped short of flatly opposing her appointment, but barely.
“I want to know how Congress would put someone who has spent her life trying to strip funding from public schools in charge of those very schools,” he said.
DeVos is an ardent school choice advocate. She proposes providing education vouchers, scholarship tax credits, and other help if parents choose to send their children to private schools or to home school. Advocates say this will create competition and better schools. Critics, including teacher unions, say it will kill the public school system.
As Murphy recognizes, her appointment could prove controversial.
Though only 43, Murphy has extensive political experience, serving three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives before defeating Linda McMahon in the 2012 Senate race. He has gained particular attention for his advocacy for stronger federal gun control laws, including universal background checks and ending the law prohibiting gun-violence research by the Centers for Disease Control.
Last June, Murphy received national attention for a 15-hour filibuster, one of the longest in Senate history, blocking an appropriations bill in protest for Republican refusal to consider gun-control legislation.
At a time when many Washington politicians are accused of being out of touch with their constituents, Murphy walked across the state last September, meeting people. A cynic could dismiss it as a publicity stunt, and it was certainly part that, but it was also a genuine way of interacting with citizens.
The Clinton team considered Murphy as a possible vice presidential pick, a fact confirmed in the emails released by WikiLeaks. He would have brought more juice to the campaign than the bland performance of Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia.
Washington political observer Chris Cillizza, who writes The Fix blog for the Washington Post, last week put Murphy on his list of potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. “If (Sen. Elizabeth) Warren didn't run, he could make a case as the most principled progressive in the field,” wrote Cillizza.
That may be a reach, but it will be interesting to watch Murphy take on the Trump team as Democrats try to dig out of their deep hole.
Paul Choiniere is the editorial page editor.
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