Massachusetts Members thank Medicare Administrator Donald Berwick for his service despite refusal by Senate Republicans to consider his nomination

WASHINGTON – Congressman Barney Frank today released a letter from all 10 members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation to Dr. Donald Berwick, Administrator of Medicare and Medicaid Services.

In the letter, the members thank Berwick for his service, which began when he was recess appointed by President Barack Obama in July 2009, and ended on December 2nd when Berwick stepped down from his position and withdrew has candidacy for a permanent appointment because Senate Republicans vowed not even to consider his nomination.  The Massachusetts members write that Republican refusal even to consider Berwick’s nomination is “an abuse of the Constitutional mandate that the Senate advise and consent.”

The Representatives also praise Berwick for accepting the appointment and leading the agency in such a hyper-partisan atmosphere, calling his willingness to take on that responsibility under such conditions “an act of patriotism of the highest sort.”

In a related story, the Senate today voted not to allow a vote on the President’s nomination to appoint Richard Cordray to head the newly-established Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). All but two Republicans voted against allowing a vote on the nomination (on voted “present”); all but one Democrat voted in favor of it.  Failing to win 60 votes, the “cloture” vote was defeated, blocking implementation of a law passed by Congress in 2010, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protect Act.