Gruber Testifying Today

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Mr. Gruber, who declined to comment Monday before the hearing, said that he regretted the remarks.

But Republicans seized on his speeches as proof of an underhanded scheme to obscure Obamacare’s impact before it passed in 2010.

“Together, such statements and Mr. Gruber’s recently-uncovered comments highlight that the 2010 healthcare law was bad policy, passed deceptively, and it needs to be repealed,” said Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, who serves on the committee.

Democrats are scrambling to put distance — literally — between themselves and Mr. Gruber.

Marilyn Tavenner, the administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, was called to testify alongside Mr. Gruber at the hearing, but an assistant Health and Human Services secretary sent a letter to the committee asking if she could testify on her own.

Committee Chairman Darrell Issa didn’t release ground rules for the hearing by late Monday, although a spokeswoman last week said “at past hearings, government officials have testified alongside other non-administration witnesses.”

Republican investigators want Mrs. Tavenner to explain why 400,000 dental plans were included in Obamacare enrollment figures reported in the weeks leading up to the second round of open enrollment.

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