Dr. Mehmet Oz was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as the next administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and he finally received his long-awaited confirmation hearings with the Senate Finance Committee this week.

Senate Democrats and their media allies were outraged by Oz's refusal to provide a one-word commitment when pressed repeatedly on the complex and hypothetical issue of possible future spending cuts to Medicaid, according to a CNBC report.

Potential Medicaid cuts and Oz's non-committal stance, however, were just one of several issues highlighted by Democrats during the hearing as problematic for the Trump nominee.

Non-commital about possible cuts to Medicaid

During Friday's confirmation hearing, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) keyed in on an earlier statement from Dr. Oz about how the administration would "cherish" and preserve Medicaid before raising persistent rumors about supposed plans to make drastic cuts to the healthcare payment assistance program.

"Since you cherish Medicaid, will you agree to oppose cuts in the Medicaid program?" Wyden asked, to which Oz replied, "I cherish Medicaid, and I’ve worked within the Medicaid environment quite extensively, as I highlighted, practicing at Columbia University."

"That’s not that question, doctor. The question is, will you oppose cuts to this program you say you cherish?" the senator fired back, though the nominee again declined to provide the desired "yes" or "no" response.

Instead, Oz said, "I want to make sure that patients today and in the future have resources to protect them if they get ill."

He further noted, "The way you protect Medicaid is by making sure that it’s viable at every level, which includes having enough practitioners to afford the services, paying them enough to do what you request of them, and making sure that patients are able to use Medicaid."

Democrats level multiple allegations against Oz

According to ABC News, Senate Democrats on the Finance Committee also "grilled" Dr. Oz on a few other areas of concern for them aside from possible future cuts to Medicaid.

That included probing questions from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and others about his prior financial ties to healthcare companies he would oversee if confirmed, allegations that he was "hostile" to abortion rights, that he'd previously used a liability loophole to dodge paying certain taxes due, and that he wanted to fully privatize both Medicare and Medicaid.

It also included accusations from Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) that Oz wanted to see children lose their health insurance plans if he supported Republican budget proposals, as well as that he was a "snake oil" salesman because of the unproven alternative health treatments he used to promote on his TV show, according to Fox News.

Oz attempted to allay Democratic concerns

For Dr. Oz's part, Fox News reported that he indicated in an ethics filing that, if confirmed, he would divest his financial holdings in more than 70 healthcare-related companies and investment funds that Democrats insisted would be conflicts of interest.

He also attempted to assure disbelieving Democrats like Sen. Hassan that he'd never been paid to promote the alternative remedies and supplements he promoted on his program.

The outlet revealed that the Senate Finance Committee will "soon" hold a vote on whether to advance Oz's nomination to the floor for a full confirmation vote, where he only needs a minimum of 50 votes to be confirmed as the next CMS administrator.