The Senate confirmed 36 year-old Dr. Vivek Murthy in a 51-43 vote over the objections of Republicans, gun rights groups and even some Democrats.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Monday bucked Democratic leadership to vote against the controversial surgeon general nominee whom conservatives have bashed for calling gun violence a public health concern.
The 36 year-old Murthy, the youngest Surgeon General in America’s history, is extremely short on medical experience but long on political activism. Even Democrat Manchin cited that issue in his opposition.
“I don’t believe it’s appropriate for America’s number one doctor to participate in political activism,” Manchin said in a statement Monday an hour before the Senate confirmed Dr. Vivek Murthy in a 51-43 vote.
Current Senate Minority Leader, soon to be Majority Leader Republican Mitch McConnell elaborated on the broad opposition to Murthy, as much a part of an Obama political effort, than a doctor and also a well known anti-gun advocate.
“The surgeon general is known as America’s doctor and the men and women chosen to fill that role in the past have usually been highly qualified individuals with substantial experience in patient care,” McConnell said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, Dr. Murthy’s nomination had more to do with politics — he was a founder in 2008 of a group called Doctors for Obama, and has been an outspoken political advocate of Obamacare and gun control — than his medical experience. With America facing the challenge of Ebola and other serious health challenges, it’s unfortunate that the President chose a nominee based on the candidate’s political support instead of a long career delivering patient care and managing difficult health crises.”
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