[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 130 (Wednesday, August 3, 2022)] [Senate] [Page S3901] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--EXECUTIVE CALENDAR Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the nomination of Robert Gordon. Earlier this year, Mr. Gordon had strong bipartisan support in the Finance Committee when his nomination came to a vote. Mr. Gordon is President Biden's nominee to serve as the Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources, and he has a long history of dedication to public service. More recently, he served as director of the Department of Health and Human Services for the State of Michigan. He played a central role in the State's pandemic response and managed an agency of 14,000 employees and a multibillion-dollar budget. Before that, he held senior roles in the U.S. Department of Education and the Office of Management and Budget, where he championed evidence- based policymaking to use taxpayer dollars wisely. Earlier in his career, Mr. Gordon served as a senior official at the New York City Department of Education. He was a senior aide on Capitol Hill, a law clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and a White House aide. In his time at the White House, he supported the development of the AmeriCorps program. In his long career in public service, he has worked to ensure that government programs work for those they serve and that they do so through responsible use of taxpayer dollars. Such experience is essential to the work of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources at the Department of Health and Human Services. HHS has responsibility for critical programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program, just to name a few. The Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources must ensure that these programs and many others under the umbrella of the Department remain strong for future generations. I ask unanimous consent that, as if in executive session, the Senate consider the following nomination: Calendar No. 762, Robert Michael Gordon, to be Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services; that the Senate vote on the nomination, without intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? The Senator from Tennessee. Mr. HAGERTY. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, since last year, I have been asking for a commitment from my Democratic colleagues that any future reconciliation legislation in this Congress will not incorporate policies that will reduce access to care in nonexpansion States, such as Tennessee. Specifically, my concern is that the reconciliation legislation that the House of Representatives passed last fall, which is the very vehicle for the reconciliation bill currently being discussed in the Senate, included provisions that cut DSH and uncompensated care pool payments for nonexpansion States. This would result in less healthcare for vulnerable populations in my State, it would accelerate hospital closures, and it would disadvantage rural communities. These are places and populations for which we are trying to secure more quality healthcare, not less. Because I still have not received confirmation that these provisions will not be included in the final text of the partisan reconciliation bill, I cannot consent to expediting confirmation of this nominee and, therefore, I object. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard. The Senator from Pennsylvania. Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I want to respond, at least preliminarily, to my friend from Tennessee. I appreciate his advocacy for hospitals in his home State of Tennessee. So given that he is seeking this assurance about these disproportionate share hospital payments, my understanding is that the reconciliation bill we are about to consider this week does not contain any provisions that are directly relevant and any provision that would impact these disproportionate share hospitals or uncompensated care pool funding. So given that and given that he is seeking this specific assurance about the pending reconciliation bill--and I think it is evident or will become evident that the bill does not contain these DSH provisions or uncompensated care payment cuts--I would ask him just this question, if he would entertain this question: If the Senate does pass a reconciliation bill, which I hope will be by the end of this week, and that bill is then subsequently enacted into law, will he lift his objection and allow this and other relevant HHS nominations to be confirmed by unanimous consent? Mr. HAGERTY. Mr. President, I would like to respond to my friend from Pennsylvania. That is a very reasonable request. We are getting ready to go through a process of which I have not yet seen the text--an amendment process that is hard to anticipate--and dread to think that there would be another wraparound, that that could happen as well. But assuming that we get to an end point and this language that I have discussed is not in the bill--the same language that the House included is not in this bill--I would be more than happy to lift my objection. Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana. ____________________