Rep. Tom Price testifies in front of a Senate committee, January 24, 2017.
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The Senate voted to confirm Representative Tom Price (R-Georgia) as secretary of health and human services early Friday morning, New York Times reports. Price will be spearheading President Donald Trump's efforts to roll back the Affordable Care Act. Price was confirmed by a vote of 52 to 47, in which no Senators crossed party lines.
The opposition to Price's nomination from Senate Democrats called in to question both the ethics of his investments and his policies. Democrats testified that Price has traded shares in medical and pharmaceutical companies while shaping health policy that affects the market in Congress. Price is now responsible for a department with a budget of more than $1 trillion.
In addition to leading efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act in Congress, Price has supported a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and voted against the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which allocates federal funds to investigate potential hate crimes perpetrated because of a victims sexual orientation or gender identity. Price is the seventh of Trump's cabinet picks to be confirmed by the Senate.