Trump’s Health Watchdog Pick Advances Over Democratic Pushback

President Donald Trump’s nominee to monitor the nation’s top health agency for fraud and abuse cleared a Senate committee hurdle Wednesday and is one step closer to taking office.

The Senate Finance Committee voted 14-13 along party lines to advance the nomination of Thomas Bell to lead the Office of Inspector General in the US Department of Health and Human Services. Bell’s advancement comes despite major pushback from Finance Committee Democrats.

In October, the committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), described Bell as “dangerous” and someone who “spent his career running smear campaigns.”

Earlier that month, Wyden and other ...