U.S. Rep. Tom Price, R-Roswell
Price, 60, became the chairman of the U.S. House Budget Committee earlier this year. He is also a member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.
He was first elected to represent Georgia’s 6th Congressional District in November 2004.
In the past, Price has served as chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee and chairman of the Republican Study Committee.
Key legislation:
Earlier this year, Price pushed through an agreement between the House and Senate that would balance the budget over a 10-year period. The blueprint, which passed along party lines, is the first balanced-budget agreement between the House and Senate since 2001.
An orthopedic surgeon, Price is a prominent voice on health policy in the Republican Party and a critic of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. He says the ACA “is driving up costs for families and businesses and kicking millions of people off of health care plans they had and liked.” He has proposed his own bill as an alternative to Obamacare that would provide age-based tax credits that range from $900 to $3,000 per year. The replacement would be less generous than the current income-based tax credits, which average $3,264 per year.
Previous experience:
Price, who served four terms in the Georgia State Senate, became Georgia’s first Republican Senate majority leader after the GOP took control of the chamber in the 2002 election.
A native of Lansing, Mich., Price worked for nearly 20 years as an orthopedic surgeon. He was an assistant professor at the Emory University School of Medicine and the medical director of the orthopedic clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital.
Education:
Bachelor’s and Doctor of Medicine degrees from the University of Michigan.
Completed his residence in orthopedic surgery at Emory University.
Family:
A wife, Betty, who was recently elected to serve in the Georgia House of Representatives, and a son.
Roswell Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Price moved toward a bid for majority leader Friday as Speaker John Boehner’s surprise resignation shook up the House GOP hierarchy.
Price started making calls immediately upon Boehner’s announcement at a closed-door meeting of the GOP caucus Friday morning that he will leave Congress as of Oct. 30, amid increasing pressure from conservatives.
Members of the Georgia delegation were asked not to endorse anyone for top leadership posts until speaking with Price, GOP aides told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The aides asked not to be named in order to discuss private communications.
The current majority leader, Kevin McCarthy, is the leading candidate to succeed Boehner, and the outgoing speaker endorsed McCarthy on Friday. While an opponent to McCarthy could emerge, the bigger fight looks to be the majority leader post. The majority leader is the No. 2 leadership position and sets the agenda for the House.
Among the other possible majority leader candidates, according to GOP aides and media reports: the current third-ranking leader, Steve Scalise of Louisiana; Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington state, who holds the No. 4 post; and Pete Sessions of Texas.
U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, a Coweta County Republican, quickly endorsed McCarthy for speaker and said he already had multiple calls from people seeking the majority leader post Friday morning. When asked whether one of those was from Price, Westmoreland smiled and shrugged.
U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, a Tifton Republican, said he had not heard directly from Price but acknowledged that a leadership bid was coming from his colleague.
“Certainly the fact that he’s from Georgia … it will be discussed” among the delegation, Scott said.
A Price spokesman would not comment on a leadership contest.
Price is known for relentless message discipline, a strong conservative voting record — but not in the furthest right wing of the caucus — and expertise in health care and fiscal policy. First elected to the House in 2004, the orthopedic surgeon and Michigan native has been ambitious from the start of his House career.
He led the Republican Study Committee, a group of more conservative members, for one term, then held the No. 5 leadership position in the House GOP. Price lost a race for the No. 4 post to McMorris Rodgers in late 2012. Price is now chairman of the House Budget Committee.
Price also has leadership experience from his days under the Gold Dome. He became the first Republican state Senate majority leader in Georgia’s history after the 2002 GOP takeover.
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