President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Dr. Mehmet Oz, is set to have his confirmation hearing before senators on Friday, a day after reports surfaced that he may have “significantly” underpaid Social Security and Medicare taxes in recent years.
According to a memo by Democratic staff on the Senate Finance Committee seen Thursday by Bloomberg News, Oz paid no Social Security or Medicare taxes in 2023 and “negligible” amounts in 2022.
The celebrity physician pointed to a provision known as the “limited partner exception” that allows certain partners with a small role in a business to avoid Medicare and Social Security taxes on that income. His spokesperson said he was compliant with the law and cleared the ethics review for the CMS role, Bloomberg reported.
Democrats argue that Oz was “actively involved” in the company’s activities and therefore owes the taxes.
Bloomberg noted that unpaid taxes have previously been a roadblock to previous presidents’ cabinet nominees:
Former Senator Tom Daschle, Barack Obama’s choice for Secretary of Health and Human Services, withdrew his nomination in 2009 for failing to pay $128,000 in taxes for the use of a friend’s chauffeur and car service. And after Trump was first elected president in 2016, his nominee to head the Labor Department, restaurant executive Andrew Puzder, withdrew in the face of numerous issues, including that he hired an undocumented nanny and did not pay taxes for her. But other nominees have managed to withstand questions about their tax maneuvers.
If confirmed, Oz, known best for his time as a TV personality and host of the daytime talk show “The Dr. Oz Show,” would be in charge of the federal agency responsible for providing health insurance through Medicaid, Medicare, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and other programs.
Photo caption: Dr. Mehmet Oz addresses supporters during a rally at The Chadwick in Wexford, Pennsylvania on Nov. 4, 2022, when he was a Republican candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania. (Archie Carpenter/UPI/Alamy Live News)
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