November 19, 2025

Warren Exposes Trump Health Nominee Flip-Flopping, Slams Extreme Anti-Abortion Views Ahead of Confirmation Vote

“Nominating (Thomas) Bell is the latest in (Donald Trump and Republicans’) dangerous anti-abortion agenda.”

Washington, D.C. – Ahead of the Senate Finance Committee’s confirmation vote for Thomas M. Bell, Donald Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General (IG), U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) exposed Bell’s flip-flopping and slammed his extreme anti-abortion views.

As chief of staff under former HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Director Roger Severino in Trump’s first term, Bell recused himself from all enforcement matters related to his previous work on the House Select Panel’s “controversial and highly partisan” investigation into Planned Parenthood due to concerns about bias. But in newly written responses to Senator Warren, Bell refused to recuse himself from similar abortion-related matters if confirmed as HHS IG and denied that he ever recused himself in the first place.

In response to questioning from Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) during Bell’s recent confirmation hearing, Bell replied that investigating abortion clinics is “exactly the kind of thing that the inspector general must have the courage to do.”

“Thomas Bell has made clear he wants to investigate abortion clinics and even previously recused himself from some Planned Parenthood-related issues because he’s too biased. Donald Trump and Republicans have been hellbent on ripping away abortion access since Day One — nominating Bell is the latest in their dangerous anti-abortion agenda,” said Senator Warren.

Ahead of Bell’s confirmation hearing last month, Sen. Warren sounded the alarm about his record of extreme partisanship and mismanagement of taxpayer funds.

“Your alleged mismanagement of taxpayer funds and long record of allowing your highly partisan positions to improperly color your policy recommendations raise serious concerns about whether you possess the skills, character, and judgment necessary to credibly serve as HHS IG,” wrote Senator Warren.

Bell led a “controversial and highly partisan” Congressional investigation into Planned Parenthood, reportedly working with anti-abortion activists to weaken the organization. Throughout the investigation, Bell reportedly made “lots of calls” to the same anti-abortion advocate who “misleadingly edited videos” that formed the basis for the investigation and was found by a federal court to have engaged in “repeated instances of fraud, including the manufacture of fake documents” to be used against Planned Parenthood. Despite finding no evidence of wrongdoing, Bell recommended that Planned Parenthood be stripped of government funding.

Bell has recently served as Senior Counsel to Republicans on the House Administration Committee, which is spearheading a Congressional investigation into Democratic fundraising site ActBlue — widely known to be based on unsubstantiated claims and prompted by President Trump’s demands.

Bell’s professional record also includes allegations of mishandling taxpayer funds. In 1997, he resigned from his position as deputy director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality after a legislative audit found that he authorized nearly $8,000 in payments and taxpayer funds to a former spokesperson with no documentation. His conduct was found to violate not only internal procedures but also Commonwealth-wide policies designed to protect taxpayer funds.

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