The physician confirmed by the Senate to be the nation's next surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, is too "political" and not experienced enough for the position, said Sen. John Barrasso.
Murthy had spent most of his professional life promoting political issues rather than caring for patients, Barrasso told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." He said the 37-year-old Murthy had spent much of his time working on gun control and on "raising lots of money for [President] Barack Obama's election."
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"The surgeon general should be focused on the major health concerns of America — heart disease, cancer, stroke. But, yet, this nominee is a political nominee, rather than someone who should be nonpolitical, someone who should be the nation's doctor," the Wyoming Republican said Tuesday.
The Senate narrowly confirmed Murthy on Monday in a 51-43 vote that fell nearly along party lines, with one Republican voting to approve him and three Democrats voting against the nomination.
Barrasso, a physician, suggested Democrats voted on Murthy while they still held a majority in the Senate, even though he had been "nominated almost a year ago and . . . they never brought him up for a vote, even during the Ebola crisis, because the Democrats weren't supporting of him."
A former Democratic surgeon general had even written to Obama, Barrasso said, telling the president that Murthy was "unqualified, and his nomination actually undermined the credibility of the office of surgeon general."
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