Bernie Sanders spent decades telling Americans he had the answer to the healthcare crisis.
He's been in Congress since 1991 – longer than Sen. Markwayne Mullin has been alive – voting for every policy that made your premiums skyrocket while calling Republicans heartless for wanting to fix it.
On Wednesday, Mullin looked Sanders in the eye during a Senate confirmation hearing and said what millions of Americans have wanted to say for 35 years.
Mullin Shuts Down Bernie Sanders In Tense Confirmation Exchange on Surgeon General Nominee
The hearing was called to consider President Trump's surgeon general nominee, Dr. Casey Means – a physician who wants to fix the root causes of disease rather than keep Americans trapped in the pharmaceutical hamster wheel.
Sanders, the ranking member, opened by accusing the Trump administration of spreading misinformation.
Mullin wasn't having it.
He pointed out that Biden's own surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, was slapped down by the Fifth Circuit Court in 2023 for attempting to censor Americans' speech on social media – and Sanders never said a word about it.
Then Mullin turned to the real issue: the Affordable Care Act that isn't affordable.
"The problem is you supported the same tools that got us to where healthcare is unaffordable," Mullin said flatly, pointing out that ACA premiums have risen three times faster than inflation.
Sanders cut in to defend socialized medicine.
"I support a national healthcare program which will cut the cost," he said.
Mullin didn't blink: "I'm pointing out facts. You can say what you want, I'm just pointing out facts."
Bernie Sanders' ACA Record: Two Post Office Renamings and Skyrocketing Healthcare Costs
Here's what Sanders has to show for more than three decades in Congress: two post office renamings.
That's it.
Out of 421 bills he's sponsored over his career, exactly three became law – and two of them named Vermont post offices.
Meanwhile, the "Affordable" Care Act Sanders championed is now delivering 2026 premium increases averaging 18 to 26 percent – the largest spike since 2018.
Up to 17 million Americans who buy coverage on the federal marketplace are facing the largest annual premium increase in recent memory.
That's the legacy Sanders wants credit for defending.
When Mullin acknowledged he'd gone long – "Anyways, I ranted too long" – Sanders seized the opening.
"Yes, you did."
The room got very quiet.
"I'm sorry, I didn't ask your opinion on that," Mullin fired back. "And if I cared about your opinion, I would ask you. But I don't care about your opinion. You're part of the system. You're part of the problem. You've been sitting here longer than I've even been alive. This is your problem. You should've fixed this a long time ago."
https://x.com/RCPolitics/status/2027048247768895585“>https://x.com/RCPolitics/status/2027048247768895585
Mullin vs Sanders: A Senate Feud Built on One Side Never Delivering
This wasn't the first time Mullin has called Sanders out.
In December 2025, Sanders personally blocked the Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act – a bipartisan bill that would have given children fighting rare cancers the same treatment access available to adults. Every member of the House had voted for it. Sanders stopped it cold on the Senate floor.
Mullin compared him to the Grinch – stealing hope from families of dying children for a political agenda.
And back in 2023, Mullin nearly came to blows with Teamsters President Sean O'Brien during a Senate hearing – with Sanders forced to bang his gavel from the chairman's seat to restore order in his own committee.
The pattern is always the same: Sanders lectures Americans about a broken system he's spent 35 years making worse, then blocks anyone who tries to fix it.
Dr. Casey Means – the nominee Sanders is now trying to derail – is exactly the kind of reformer the MAHA movement needs confirmed.
Sanders responded to Mullin's takedown with a sarcastic jab: "I've decided not to run for surgeon general."
Mullin had the last word: "That is definitely something we would never accept."
Here's the bigger picture: Trump's Make America Healthy Again agenda only works if reformers like Casey Means get confirmed and fighters like Mullin have their backs on the HELP Committee.
Sanders knows that.
That's precisely why he's sitting in the ranking member's chair trying to run out the clock on a 35-year losing streak – because the moment Americans see the difference between a system that treats root causes and the broken machine he's spent his career protecting, his entire legacy collapses.
Mullin just made sure everyone was watching.
Sources:
- "Senators Sanders and Mullin Clash in Heated Senate Hearing Exchange," Fox News, February 25, 2026.
- Matt Margolis, "Bernie Sanders Gets Destroyed Over Healthcare in Fiery Hearing Clash," PJ Media, February 25, 2026.
- "Bernie Sanders, Markwayne Mullin Butt Heads in Casey Means Confirmation Hearing," The Hill, February 25, 2026.
- "Video: Mullin and Maggie Urge Bernie Sanders to Stop Blocking the Bipartisan Give Kids a Chance Act," Mullin.senate.gov, January 2026.
- "ACA Insurers Are Raising Premiums by an Estimated 26%," KFF, October 2025.
- "Why Are Obamacare Premiums Really Going Up?" Economic Policy Innovation Center, December 2025.
