Ehlinger confirmation hearing canceled again

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For the second time in recent weeks, a Senate Health and Human Services confirmation hearing for Department of Health Commissioner Ed Ehlinger was scheduled and later canceled with little explanation.

Thursday morning’s hearing, which was added to the schedule late Wednesday, was canceled about an hour after it was scheduled to begin. Ehlinger, public health officials and a handful of DFL senators had been waiting for the hearing to begin before the cancellation announcement was made.

An April 27th hearing was “postponed indefinitely” after Health and Human Services Chairman David Hann met with Gov. Mark Dayton the morning of the hearing. No other explanation was given for that delay, either, but Dayton issued a laudatory statement at the time praising Hann for his decision.

This time, it’s unlikely there was such a meeting, with Republicans in a pre-session caucus meeting Thursday morning. Some speculated that a Senate rule that prohibits any floor action on confirmations the same day they are taken up by committee could have played a role in Thursday’s cancellation. That requirement can only be overruled by unanimous consent, an unlikely prospect given that most thought Ehlinger was ripe to be ousted by Senate Republicans.

Hann has long had his eye on Ehlinger, and once said he was on the caucus’ “watch list” of commissioners destined for tough confirmation hearings. Hann has also called Ehlinger before his committee to testify on health reform and abortion regulations, two topics that have roiled Hann from his post as HHS chairman.

Following the cancellation, Ehlinger took the news in stride, noting that he only learned of the scheduled hearing at 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

“It would’ve been nice to spend this hour looking after the public health of Minnesota,” he said. “But it would’ve been nice to have a discussion.”

DFL Sen. Kathy Sheran, though, was not so sanguine. She blasted Hann for once again calling a hearing and gathering officials and lawmakers only to later cancel it.

“It’s happened so often this session,” she said. “I think that’s a misuse of his authority,” Sheran added of Hann, “and his power.”