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Xavier Becerra, President Joe Biden's nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, answers questions during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on February 24, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images)
GOP Senators Opposed to Becerra for HHS Have Taken Nearly $10 Million From Big Pharma: Analysis
"While Xavier Becerra has spent his career taking on the pharmaceutical industry for their corrupt price gouging, Senate Republicans have spent their political careers lining their pockets with millions of dollars from Big Pharma."
Mar 03, 2021
As the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday deadlocked along party lines on whether to advance the nomination of Xavier Becerra as secretary of Health and Human Services, a new analysis shows that the 14 Republican members of the panel have taken $36.1 million from the health sector, including $9.6 million from Big Pharma--a fact that progressives say explains the GOP's opposition to President Joe Biden's Cabinet pick, a supporter of Medicare for All.
"While Xavier Becerra has spent his career taking on the pharmaceutical industry for their corrupt price gouging, Senate Republicans have spent their political careers lining their pockets with millions of dollars from Big Pharma and furthering the industry's bottom line in Congress," Mairead Lynn, spokesperson for the Accountable Senate War Room, a project of the watchdog group Accountable.US, said in a statement.
Becerra has pledged to expand healthcare access and lower drug prices. According to Accountable.US, the opposition to Becerra by Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee--who "have oversight of the very same industries that have bankrolled their campaigns with millions of dollars"--reflects "an effort to appease their Big Pharma donors."
The watchdog group highlighted the following GOP lawmakers' conflicts of interest:
- Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Id.) "has accepted over $1.8 million from the health sector throughout his career, including over $616,000 from Big Pharma. Crapo also raked in contributions from the healthcare and financial sectors as he was poised to become the Committee chairman at the end of last year," according to Accountable's report.
- Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) "has accepted over $3.7 million from the health sector throughout his career, including nearly $1 million from Big Pharma."
- Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) "has accepted over $1.7 million from the health sector throughout his career, including over $1 million from Big Pharma. Cornyn said the quiet part out loud when he brought up concerns with Becerra's lack of ties to the pharmaceutical industry, implicitly admitting he'd prefer a nominee in the pocket of Big Pharma."
- Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) "has accepted over $4.8 million from the health sector throughout his career, including $1.5 million from Big Pharma."
- Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) "has accepted over $5.1 million from the health sector throughout his career, including over $736,000 from Big Pharma."
- Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) "has accepted over $2.7 million from the health sector throughout his career, including over $651,000 from Big Pharma."
Despite Wednesday's evenly split vote--which made Becerra the first of Biden's Cabinet nominees not to be favorably approved out of committee--his confirmation is not doomed. Once Democrats introduce "a motion to discharge his nomination and hold an additional four hours of debate," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) can "bring the nomination up for a full Senate vote," Politico reported.
According to The Hill, the right-wing group Heritage Action is running a $500,000 ad campaign in West Virginia and Arizona to undermine Becerra's nomination, portraying him as a "radical pick" with "zero medical experience."
The GOP hopes the ads persuade conservative Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) or Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) to vote against Becerra.
Nonetheless, Becerra--a former House Democrat who is now California's attorney general and would be the first Latino to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)--is still "likely to be confirmed as early as next week," Politico reported, "barring any unexpected Democratic defections."
While a Democratic leadership aide told the news outlet that they "remain optimistic" and want to get Becerra approved as quickly as possible given the significance of HHS to the federal government's pandemic response, the 14-14 vote in the Senate Finance Committee reveals the depth of Republican lawmakers' hostility toward Becerra.
The GOP has been trying for weeks to derail the appointment of Becerra, who was first nominated by Biden in December 2020.
As Common Dreams reported last month, watchdog groups and former top federal health officials denounced Senate Republicans for what they described as a deliberate attempt to undermine the Biden administration's response to Covid-19 by needlessly delaying Becerra's confirmation hearing--leaving the key agency that plays a role in overseeing vaccine distribution, among other things, without a permanent director amid a catastrophic public health crisis.
As Politico noted, "The Senate's ongoing work on Biden's $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill and a pile-up of other nominees awaiting confirmation complicates the timeline for Becerra--particularly if Vice President Kamala Harris needs to be on hand to break a tie."
Regarding the Republican lawmakers who have been obstructing Becerra's confirmation, Lynn said that "it's obvious what motivates their opposition."
"But it's time for these senators to stop catering to Big Pharma and instead confirm Becerra quickly and work with the Biden administration to get this pandemic under control and the American people back on their feet," she added.
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Kenny Stancil
Kenny Stancil is senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project and a former staff writer for Common Dreams.
big pharmacoronavirushealth and human serviceshealthcarejoe bidenmedicare for allpandemicpoliticspublic healthrepublican partyus senatexavier becerra
As the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday deadlocked along party lines on whether to advance the nomination of Xavier Becerra as secretary of Health and Human Services, a new analysis shows that the 14 Republican members of the panel have taken $36.1 million from the health sector, including $9.6 million from Big Pharma--a fact that progressives say explains the GOP's opposition to President Joe Biden's Cabinet pick, a supporter of Medicare for All.
"While Xavier Becerra has spent his career taking on the pharmaceutical industry for their corrupt price gouging, Senate Republicans have spent their political careers lining their pockets with millions of dollars from Big Pharma and furthering the industry's bottom line in Congress," Mairead Lynn, spokesperson for the Accountable Senate War Room, a project of the watchdog group Accountable.US, said in a statement.
Becerra has pledged to expand healthcare access and lower drug prices. According to Accountable.US, the opposition to Becerra by Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee--who "have oversight of the very same industries that have bankrolled their campaigns with millions of dollars"--reflects "an effort to appease their Big Pharma donors."
The watchdog group highlighted the following GOP lawmakers' conflicts of interest:
- Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Id.) "has accepted over $1.8 million from the health sector throughout his career, including over $616,000 from Big Pharma. Crapo also raked in contributions from the healthcare and financial sectors as he was poised to become the Committee chairman at the end of last year," according to Accountable's report.
- Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) "has accepted over $3.7 million from the health sector throughout his career, including nearly $1 million from Big Pharma."
- Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) "has accepted over $1.7 million from the health sector throughout his career, including over $1 million from Big Pharma. Cornyn said the quiet part out loud when he brought up concerns with Becerra's lack of ties to the pharmaceutical industry, implicitly admitting he'd prefer a nominee in the pocket of Big Pharma."
- Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) "has accepted over $4.8 million from the health sector throughout his career, including $1.5 million from Big Pharma."
- Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) "has accepted over $5.1 million from the health sector throughout his career, including over $736,000 from Big Pharma."
- Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) "has accepted over $2.7 million from the health sector throughout his career, including over $651,000 from Big Pharma."
Despite Wednesday's evenly split vote--which made Becerra the first of Biden's Cabinet nominees not to be favorably approved out of committee--his confirmation is not doomed. Once Democrats introduce "a motion to discharge his nomination and hold an additional four hours of debate," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) can "bring the nomination up for a full Senate vote," Politico reported.
According to The Hill, the right-wing group Heritage Action is running a $500,000 ad campaign in West Virginia and Arizona to undermine Becerra's nomination, portraying him as a "radical pick" with "zero medical experience."
The GOP hopes the ads persuade conservative Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) or Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) to vote against Becerra.
Nonetheless, Becerra--a former House Democrat who is now California's attorney general and would be the first Latino to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)--is still "likely to be confirmed as early as next week," Politico reported, "barring any unexpected Democratic defections."
While a Democratic leadership aide told the news outlet that they "remain optimistic" and want to get Becerra approved as quickly as possible given the significance of HHS to the federal government's pandemic response, the 14-14 vote in the Senate Finance Committee reveals the depth of Republican lawmakers' hostility toward Becerra.
The GOP has been trying for weeks to derail the appointment of Becerra, who was first nominated by Biden in December 2020.
As Common Dreams reported last month, watchdog groups and former top federal health officials denounced Senate Republicans for what they described as a deliberate attempt to undermine the Biden administration's response to Covid-19 by needlessly delaying Becerra's confirmation hearing--leaving the key agency that plays a role in overseeing vaccine distribution, among other things, without a permanent director amid a catastrophic public health crisis.
As Politico noted, "The Senate's ongoing work on Biden's $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill and a pile-up of other nominees awaiting confirmation complicates the timeline for Becerra--particularly if Vice President Kamala Harris needs to be on hand to break a tie."
Regarding the Republican lawmakers who have been obstructing Becerra's confirmation, Lynn said that "it's obvious what motivates their opposition."
"But it's time for these senators to stop catering to Big Pharma and instead confirm Becerra quickly and work with the Biden administration to get this pandemic under control and the American people back on their feet," she added.
Kenny Stancil
Kenny Stancil is senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project and a former staff writer for Common Dreams.
As the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday deadlocked along party lines on whether to advance the nomination of Xavier Becerra as secretary of Health and Human Services, a new analysis shows that the 14 Republican members of the panel have taken $36.1 million from the health sector, including $9.6 million from Big Pharma--a fact that progressives say explains the GOP's opposition to President Joe Biden's Cabinet pick, a supporter of Medicare for All.
"While Xavier Becerra has spent his career taking on the pharmaceutical industry for their corrupt price gouging, Senate Republicans have spent their political careers lining their pockets with millions of dollars from Big Pharma and furthering the industry's bottom line in Congress," Mairead Lynn, spokesperson for the Accountable Senate War Room, a project of the watchdog group Accountable.US, said in a statement.
Becerra has pledged to expand healthcare access and lower drug prices. According to Accountable.US, the opposition to Becerra by Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee--who "have oversight of the very same industries that have bankrolled their campaigns with millions of dollars"--reflects "an effort to appease their Big Pharma donors."
The watchdog group highlighted the following GOP lawmakers' conflicts of interest:
- Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Id.) "has accepted over $1.8 million from the health sector throughout his career, including over $616,000 from Big Pharma. Crapo also raked in contributions from the healthcare and financial sectors as he was poised to become the Committee chairman at the end of last year," according to Accountable's report.
- Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) "has accepted over $3.7 million from the health sector throughout his career, including nearly $1 million from Big Pharma."
- Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) "has accepted over $1.7 million from the health sector throughout his career, including over $1 million from Big Pharma. Cornyn said the quiet part out loud when he brought up concerns with Becerra's lack of ties to the pharmaceutical industry, implicitly admitting he'd prefer a nominee in the pocket of Big Pharma."
- Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) "has accepted over $4.8 million from the health sector throughout his career, including $1.5 million from Big Pharma."
- Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) "has accepted over $5.1 million from the health sector throughout his career, including over $736,000 from Big Pharma."
- Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) "has accepted over $2.7 million from the health sector throughout his career, including over $651,000 from Big Pharma."
Despite Wednesday's evenly split vote--which made Becerra the first of Biden's Cabinet nominees not to be favorably approved out of committee--his confirmation is not doomed. Once Democrats introduce "a motion to discharge his nomination and hold an additional four hours of debate," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) can "bring the nomination up for a full Senate vote," Politico reported.
According to The Hill, the right-wing group Heritage Action is running a $500,000 ad campaign in West Virginia and Arizona to undermine Becerra's nomination, portraying him as a "radical pick" with "zero medical experience."
The GOP hopes the ads persuade conservative Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) or Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) to vote against Becerra.
Nonetheless, Becerra--a former House Democrat who is now California's attorney general and would be the first Latino to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)--is still "likely to be confirmed as early as next week," Politico reported, "barring any unexpected Democratic defections."
While a Democratic leadership aide told the news outlet that they "remain optimistic" and want to get Becerra approved as quickly as possible given the significance of HHS to the federal government's pandemic response, the 14-14 vote in the Senate Finance Committee reveals the depth of Republican lawmakers' hostility toward Becerra.
The GOP has been trying for weeks to derail the appointment of Becerra, who was first nominated by Biden in December 2020.
As Common Dreams reported last month, watchdog groups and former top federal health officials denounced Senate Republicans for what they described as a deliberate attempt to undermine the Biden administration's response to Covid-19 by needlessly delaying Becerra's confirmation hearing--leaving the key agency that plays a role in overseeing vaccine distribution, among other things, without a permanent director amid a catastrophic public health crisis.
As Politico noted, "The Senate's ongoing work on Biden's $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill and a pile-up of other nominees awaiting confirmation complicates the timeline for Becerra--particularly if Vice President Kamala Harris needs to be on hand to break a tie."
Regarding the Republican lawmakers who have been obstructing Becerra's confirmation, Lynn said that "it's obvious what motivates their opposition."
"But it's time for these senators to stop catering to Big Pharma and instead confirm Becerra quickly and work with the Biden administration to get this pandemic under control and the American people back on their feet," she added.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
LATEST NEWS
US Court Orders Return of Man Trump Sent to Salvadoran Prison in 'Error'
"How the government reacts will tell us so much about how far down the road to autocracy we are," said one lawyer.
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A U.S. judge on Friday ordered the return of a Maryland resident who the Trump administration mistakenly deported to a prison in El Salvador last month, according to The Associated Press.
Prior to issuing the ruling, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis called the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia "an illegal act."
The judge, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, gave the Trump administration end of the day of the day on Monday to bring him back to the United States.
Supporters outside the courtroom cheered as the judge handed down her order, according to The Washington Post.
Responding to the ruling on social media, U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said: "This is a big win. Now Trump must comply with the judge's order."
Immigration lawyer Ava Benach wrote: "The right decision. How the government reacts will tell us so much about how far down the road to autocracy we are."
The right decision. How the government reacts will tell us so much about how far down the road to autocracy we are.
[image or embed]
— avabenach.bsky.social (@avabenach.bsky.social) April 4, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Abrego Garcia was among hundreds of people the administration expelled in mid-March to a notorious megaprison in El Salvador after targeting them for alleged gang ties.
In a court papers filed earlier this week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acting field office director admitted that the removal of Abrego Garcia on March 15 "was an error."
Abrego Garcia was deported despite the fact that in 2019, a U.S. immigration judge ruled that he could not be deported to his native El Salvador because he would likely face gang persecution there.
Amid Trump Tariff Chaos, DOGE 'Minions' Infiltrate Federal Trade Commission
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The latest U.S. agency in the crosshairs of billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is reportedly the Federal Trade Commission, an already-understaffed department tasked with preventing monopolistic practices and shielding consumers from corporate abuses.
Axios reported Friday that at least two DOGE staffers "now have offices at" the FTC. According to The Verge, two DOGE members "were spotted" at the agency's building this week and "are now listed in the FTC's internal directory."
The Verge noted that the FTC is "a fairly lean agency with fewer than 1,200 employees," a number that the Trump administration has already cut into with the firing of some of the department's consumer protection and antitrust staff.
At least two of Musk's companies, Tesla and X, have faced scrutiny in recent years from the FTC, which is now under the leadership of Trump appointee Andrew Ferguson, who previously pledged to roll back former chair Lina Khan's anti-monopoly legacy.
Emily Peterson-Cassin, corporate power director at the Demand Progress Education Fund, which referred to the operatives as Musk's "minions," said Friday that "DOGE is yet again raiding a federal watchdog tasked with protecting working Americans from Wall Street and Big Tech."
"The FTC has worked to stop monopolistic mergers that would have led to higher grocery prices and is now gearing up to go to court against Meta's social media monopoly," said Peterson-Cassin. "It's no surprise that at this moment, while the economy is in freefall and fraud is on the rise, DOGE is choosing to raid the federal watchdog that protects everyday Americans and threatens corporate monopolies and grifters."
News of DOGE staffers' infiltration of the FTC came as Trump's sweeping new tariffs continued to cause global economic turmoil and heightened concerns that companies in the U.S. will use the tariffs as a new excuse to jack up prices and pad their bottom lines.
Ferguson pledged in a social media post Thursday that under his leadership, the FTC "will be watching closely" to ensure companies don't view Trump's tariffs "as a green light for price fixing or any other unlawful behavior."
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Peterson-Cassin said Friday that "the only winners" of DOGE's targeting of the FTC "are Trump's billionaire besties like [Meta CEO] Mark Zuckerberg and especially Musk, who now stands to gain access to confidential financial information about every company ever investigated by the FTC, including the auto manufacturers, aerospace firms, internet providers, tech companies, and banks that directly compete with his own companies."
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'There Will Be Blood': JPMorgan Hikes Odds of Trump-Triggered Recession to 60%
"The president single-handedly wiped out Americans' retirement savings overnight and subjected businesses to intense whiplash with his increasingly erratic and chaotic policies that continue to drive consumer and business uncertainty."
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Alarm over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs continues to grow, with stocks plummeting and JPMorgan warning that "the risk of recession in the global economy this year is raised to 60%, up from 40%."
After China announced new 34% tariffs on all American goods beginning next week, The Associated Press reported Friday that "the S&P 500 was down 4.8% in afternoon trading, after earlier dropping more than 5%, following its worst day since Covid wrecked the global economy in 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,719 points, or 4.3%, as of 1:08 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 4.9% lower."
Noting the state of Wall Street this week, Groundwork Collaborative executive director Lindsay Owens declared in a Friday statement that "Trump has officially brought the economy to its knees."
"The president single-handedly wiped out Americans' retirement savings overnight and subjected businesses to intense whiplash with his increasingly erratic and chaotic policies that continue to drive consumer and business uncertainty," she said. "To call this an economic downturn is an understatement; Trump is marching us straight into a depression."
Political and economic observers have been publicly wondering for weeks if Trump is intentionally crashing the economy. Further fueling those fears, he ramped up his trade war on Wednesday by announcing a minimum 10% tariff for imports, with higher levies for dozens of countries. Although he claimed those steeper duties are "reciprocal," his math "horrified" economists and has been called "crazy."
Responding in a Thursday note titled, There Will Be Blood, head of global economic research Bruce Kasman and other experts at JPMorgan wrote that "if sustained, this year's ~22%-point tariff increase would be the largest U.S. tax hike since 1968."
"The effect of this tax hike is likely to be magnified—through retaliation, a slide in U.S. business sentiment, and supply chain disruptions," states the note, which came before China's announcement.
As Bloomberg reported:
Several Wall Street firms on Thursday warned of a U.S. recession, with some making it their base case, after... Trump announced major levies on goods imported from countries around the world. Other economists, including those at JPMorgan, said the hit could be big, though they are taking a wait-and-see approach before revising their projections.
The announcement rocked global financial markets, and the S&P 500 suffered its worst day since 2020. Trump, speaking on Air Force One on Thursday afternoon, said he was open to reducing tariffs if trading partners were able to offer something "phenomenal."
"We are not making immediate changes to our forecasts and want to see the initial implementation and negotiation process that takes hold," the JPMorgan note says. "However, we view the full implementation of announced policies as a substantial macroeconomic shock not currently incorporated in our forecasts. We thus emphasize that these policies, if sustained, would likely push the U.S. and possibly global economy into recession this year."
The team also pointed out that the United States is in potential danger no matter how other countries are ultimately impacted, calling a "scenario where rest of world muddles through a U.S. recession possible but less likely than global downturn."
As Common Dreams reported last week, in anticipation of Trump's tariff announcement, Goldman Sachs published a research note projecting that the odds of a recession in the next year are 35%, up from 20%.
Other financial industry research firms that have recently warned of a possible recession include Barclays, BofA Global Research, Deutsche Bank, RBC Capital Markets, and UBS Global Wealth Management, according to Reuters.
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Experts have made similar comments to the press in the wake of the president's Rose Garden remarks on Wednesday. Time on Friday shared some from Brian Bethune, a Boston College economics professor:
"[Consumers] are not even going to the grocery store and paying more for vegetables because there's none available from Mexico, or going to Whole Foods, for example, and finding the big sections of fresh fruit are being shut down. They haven't really felt the full impact [yet], and they're already saying something isn't right," Bethune says.
However, while some economists... are more cautious in their discussion about a possible recession, Bethune says it's "inevitable." The question, he says, is just how long until it happens and for how long will it occur? He sees Trump's admission of there being " some pain" on the horizon as only proof of the inevitability.
"At least they [the Trump administration] are not pretending that it's not disruptive, but they're basically soft-selling it, reflecting their ignorance about the way business operates," Bethune claims.
Also on Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the latest U.S. jobs data. Although the unemployment rate rose from 4.1% to 4.2% in March, the economy added 228,000 jobs, which was better than expected.
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