Trump's New HHS Watchdog Could Have A Major Conflict Of Interest On Abortion
HuffPost
Thomas March Bell is likely to be confirmed as inspector general of the Health and Human Services Department despite his long record of going after abortion clinics.
President Donald Trump’s pick for lead watchdog at the Health and Human Services Department is likely to have a major conflict of interest when it comes to abortion.
Thomas March Bell, a former Justice Department attorney who served in Trump’s first administration, has worked for anti-abortion Republicans for decades and boasts deep ties to anti-abortion groups like Operation Rescue.
Still, Trump nominated Bell to be the next inspector general at HHS — a historically nonpartisan role that oversees the billions of federal dollars used to run HHS programs. The inspector general ensures that all programs run efficiently and is tasked with investigating any claims of fraud or abuse.
It’s very likely Bell will be confirmed during a Wednesday morning Senate vote. Trump fired the last HHS inspector general, along with over a dozen other government watchdogs, earlier this year — sparking pushback from Senate Democrats who argued Bell’s nomination is unlawful because Trump illegally fired the previous HHS inspector general.
As HHS inspector general, Bell would be tasked with overseeing investigations into the Medicare and Medicaid programs — the latter being the largest funder of reproductive health services in the country, the Center for Reproductive Rights notes. This is particularly significant since Republicans recently floated adding more limits to how much Obamacare funds can be used for abortion services. Similar to Trump defunding Planned Parenthood via Medicaid restrictions, adding abortion restrictions to ACA tax credit usage could amount to a backdoor abortion ban for any American insured under Obamacare.
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