{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-exposes-trump-health-nominee-flip-flopping-slams-extreme-anti-abortion-views-ahead-of-confirmation-vote", "Warren Exposes Trump Health Nominee Flip-Flopping, Slams Extreme Anti-Abortion Views Ahead of Confirmation Vote", "2025-11-19", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "MA", "Elizabeth Warren", "W000817", "www.warren.senate.gov", "warren", "https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "Warren Exposes Trump Health Nominee Flip-Flopping, Slams Extreme Anti-Abortion Views Ahead of Confirmation Vote\n\n\u201cNominating (Thomas) Bell is the latest in (Donald Trump and Republicans\u2019) dangerous anti-abortion agenda.\u201d\n\nBell Responses to Warren (PDF)\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Ahead of the Senate Finance Committee\u2019s confirmation vote for Thomas M. Bell, Donald Trump\u2019s nominee for Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General (IG), U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) exposed Bell\u2019s flip-flopping and slammed his extreme anti-abortion views.\n\nAs chief of staff under former HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Director Roger Severino in Trump\u2019s first term, Bell recused himself from all enforcement matters related to his previous work on the House Select Panel\u2019s \u201ccontroversial and highly partisan\u201d investigation into Planned Parenthood due to concerns about bias. But in newly written responses to Senator Warren, Bell refused to recuse himself from similar abortion-related matters if confirmed as HHS IG and denied that he ever recused himself in the first place.\n\nIn response to questioning from Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) during Bell\u2019s recent confirmation hearing, Bell replied that investigating abortion clinics is \u201cexactly the kind of thing that the inspector general must have the courage to do.\u201d\n\n\u201cThomas Bell has made clear he wants to investigate abortion clinics and even previously recused himself from some Planned Parenthood-related issues because he\u2019s too biased. Donald Trump and Republicans have been hellbent on ripping away abortion access since Day One \u2014 nominating Bell is the latest in their dangerous anti-abortion agenda,\u201d said Senator Warren.\n\nAhead of Bell\u2019s confirmation hearing last month, Sen. Warren sounded the alarm about his record of extreme partisanship and mismanagement of taxpayer funds.\n\n\u201cYour alleged mismanagement of taxpayer funds and long record of allowing your highly partisan positions to improperly color your policy recommendations raise serious concerns about whether you possess the skills, character, and judgment necessary to credibly serve as HHS IG,\u201d wrote Senator Warren.\n\nBell led a \u201ccontroversial and highly partisan\u201d Congressional investigation into Planned Parenthood, reportedly working with anti-abortion activists to weaken the organization. Throughout the investigation, Bell reportedly made \u201clots of calls\u201d to the same anti-abortion advocate who \u201cmisleadingly edited videos\u201d that formed the basis for the investigation and was found by a federal court to have engaged in \u201crepeated instances of fraud, including the manufacture of fake documents\u201d to be used against Planned Parenthood. Despite finding no evidence of wrongdoing, Bell recommended that Planned Parenthood be stripped of government funding.\n\nBell has recently served as Senior Counsel to Republicans on the House Administration Committee, which is spearheading a Congressional investigation into Democratic fundraising site ActBlue \u2014 widely known to be based on unsubstantiated claims and prompted by President Trump\u2019s demands.\n\nBell\u2019s professional record also includes allegations of mishandling taxpayer funds. In 1997, he resigned from his position as deputy director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality after a legislative audit found that he authorized nearly $8,000 in payments and taxpayer funds to a former spokesperson with no documentation. His conduct was found to violate not only internal procedures but also Commonwealth-wide policies designed to protect taxpayer funds.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-exposes-trump-health-nominee-flip-flopping-slams-extreme-anti-abortion-views-ahead-of-confirmation-vote"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.3261038586497307, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}