Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D., Texas) tried to hit Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney over the Trump administration's proposed cuts to Medicaid by asking him if he is a doctor during a congressional hearing on Wednesday.
But Mulvaney quickly turned the question around, asking Jackson Lee if she is a doctor as the two sparred over President Trump's federal budget proposal.
The exchange came during a hearing that lasted well over three hours in which Mulvaney presented the White House's budget proposal to the House Budget Committee, the Daily Caller reported. Jackson Lee took some of her time to attack a comment Mulvaney recently made about who should be covered by federal funds.
"You have a comment: 'That doesn't mean we should take care of the person who sits at home and eats poorly and gets diabetes,'" Jackson Lee said to Mulvaney. "Are you saying that you support a health care plan that makes distinctions between the deserving ill and the undeserving ill in deciding who can get federal support and how much?"
Mulvaney explained that he was trying to make a technical distinction.
"Regarding my statement last week on diabetes, I was speaking at a health care conference, and what I was trying to do is draw a distinction between type I and type II–" he said before Jackson Lee cut him off.
"But you did say it," the lawmaker interjected.
"Again, I'm trying to put my comments into context, ma'am. I'm aware of the difference between type I and type II diabetes," Mulvaney responded.
"But you're not a doctor?" Jackson Lee asked, appearing to try to trip up Mulvaney.
"I am not a doctor," Mulvaney responded. "Are you?"
Jackson Lee did not answer her own question, pivoting back to the budget.
"I know diabetes. It's in my family and it's in my community and it particularly impacts African Americans, and we will be devastated by this budget, along with working Americans, working families," she said.