Politics Election

Sen. Rand Paul criticized for comments during hearing for Rachel Levine’s confirmation

Bret Gibson
Bret Gibson
Slide 1
AP
Rachel Levine, nominated to be an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Slide 2
AP
Sen.Rand Paul, R-Ky., is seen on a monitor Thursday during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Vivek Murthy, nominated to be Medical Director in the Regular Corps of the Public Health Service and to be Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, center, and Rachel Levine, nominated to be an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services listen.

Share this post:

Dr. Rachel Levine, the former Pennsylvania secretary of health and President Joe Biden’s nominee for assistant secretary of health, faced a line of questioning from senators on Thursday during her confirmation hearing in Washington.

But it was Sen. Rand Paul’s questioning of Levine, who would be the first openly transgender federal official, that was the focus of criticism.

The Republican senator from Kentucky quizzed Levine about her views on hormone treatment for trans teens and likening gender reassignment surgery to castration and female genital mutilation.

“American culture is now normalizing the idea that minors can be given hormones about their biological development and their secondary sexual characteristics,” said Paul, who was born in Bethel Park. “Dr. Levine, do you believe that minors are capable of making such a life changing decision as changing one’s sex?”

Levine sidestepped the query and answered more broadly about transgender issues and their relation to the medical community.

“If I’m fortunate enough to be confirmed, I will look forward to working with you and your office and coming to your office to discuss the particulars of the standards of care for transgender medicine,” Levine said.

Levine, a pediatrician, was then defended by other members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, who called Paul’s line of questioning inappropriate and uninformed.

“It is really critical to me that our nominees be treated with respect and that our questions focus on their qualifications and the work ahead of us, rather than ideological and harmful misrepresentations like those we heard from Sen. Paul earlier,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer addressed some of the “despicable comments made by a few Republicans about trans people,” without naming them. “Their attacks on trans people in the transgender community are just mean. Mean,” the Democrat from New York said.

Others, however, praised Paul for bringing up the subject matter.

Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.

Get Ad-Free >

Categories: News | Politics Election | Top Stories
Tags:
Content you may have missed
Content you may have missed
Editor's Picks

Front Porch Theatricals’ musical ‘Baby’ is a labor of love

Washington townhouse on the market for $1,225,000
Folk legend Bruce Cockburn gives uplifting performance at City Winery
‘Champagne & Chapeaux’: Westmoreland Symphony’s annual soiree for a good cause
Jimmy Stewart’s P-51 Mustang stops in hometown for museum anniversary
More Editor's Picks >
More Editor's Picks >