Pete Ricketts on LGBTQ Rights: His Deciding Vote for Pete Hegseth and the Transgender Military Ban, Confirming Mehmet Oz, and the Officials Who Ended VA and Federal Employee Coverage

On January 24, 2025, Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts cast the deciding vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense, whose Pentagon began discharging transgender service members, and on April 3, 2025 he voted to confirm Mehmet Oz, whose agency barred federal Medicaid funds for gender-affirming care for young people and barred insurers from covering the care as an essential benefit in marketplace plans.

Ricketts also voted to confirm Attorney General Pam Bondi, whose Justice Department subpoenaed doctors and clinics that treat transgender youth, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, whose department phased out gender-affirming care for veterans, and Personnel Director Scott Kupor, whose office dropped the care from federal employees' health plans. He cast one of the 50 votes for the 2025 law whose Medicaid cuts reach LGBTQ adults, who rely on Medicaid at twice the rate of other adults, in Nebraska and every other state.

Pete Ricketts's Confirmation Votes on Transgender Health Care, the Military Ban and Federal Protections

• Ricketts Cast the Deciding Vote for the Defense Secretary Who Began Discharging Transgender Troops. On January 24, 2025, Pete Ricketts voted to confirm Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense; the vote was 50 to 50 and the Vice President broke the tie, so Hegseth would not have been confirmed without Ricketts's vote. Hegseth's policy holds that people with a history of gender dysphoria are "incompatible" with U.S. military service. After the Supreme Court let it take effect in May 2025, About 1,000 troops who previously self-identified now have to leave the military, and service members suing over the ban have now received notices starting involuntary separation. In a 2025 Gallup poll, 58% of respondents said they support admitting openly transgender women and men into the U.S. military.
• Ricketts Voted to Confirm Mehmet Oz, Whose Agency Cut Off Federal Medicaid Funds for Transgender Youth Care. On April 3, 2025, Ricketts voted to confirm Mehmet Oz as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and he was confirmed 53 to 45. In August 2026 Oz's agency finalized a rule ending federal Medicaid and CHIP payment for puberty blockers, hormones and surgery for young people, and KFF counted about 130,000 young trans people with Medicaid or CHIP coverage in states without their own restrictions. In June 2025 the agency had also ruled that insurers are prohibited from covering gender affirming care as an essential health benefit in marketplace plans starting in 2026.
• Ricketts Voted to Confirm Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche, Whose Justice Department Subpoenaed Doctors Who Treat Transgender Youth. Pete Ricketts voted to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general on February 4, 2025 and Todd Blanche as deputy attorney general on March 5, 2025. In July 2025 the department issued more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics providing young people with gender-affirming care, KFF reported, and by 2026 at least 40 health care institutions have walked back the provision of gender-affirming care, cutting off patients who had been in treatment.
• Ricketts Voted to Confirm Doug Collins, Whose VA Phased Out Care for Transgender Veterans. On February 4, 2025, Ricketts voted to confirm Doug Collins as secretary of veterans affairs, and he was confirmed 77 to 23. In March 2025 the VA announced that it would phase out providing gender affirming care for transgender veterans, KFF reported.
• Ricketts Voted to Confirm Scott Kupor, Whose Office Dropped Gender-Affirming Care From Federal Employees' Health Plans. On July 9, 2025, Ricketts voted to confirm Scott Kupor as director of the Office of Personnel Management, and he was confirmed 49 to 46. Kupor's office removed the coverage from federal employee health plans for 2026, and for 2027 carriers must remove any exceptions process that had protected people already in treatment, according to KFF.
• Ricketts Cast One of the 50 Votes for Medicaid Cuts That Fall Hardest on LGBTQ Adults and People With HIV. On July 1, 2025, Ricketts voted yes on H.R. 1, which passed 50 to 50 with the Vice President's vote. LGBTQ+ adults are twice as likely as non-LGBTQ+ adults to use Medicaid as their main coverage, and Medicaid is also the primary insurance for Americans living with HIV, according to Williams Institute data reported by them.
• Ricketts Voted to Confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Whose Department Shut the LGBTQ Youth Crisis Line for 14 Months. On February 13, 2025, Ricketts voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services. Kennedy's department ended the 988 crisis line's service for LGBTQ young people in July 2025, a line that had received over 1.5 million contacts since its start. The harm was transient: It was revived over a year later, on September 30, 2026, after pressure from Congress, KFF reported.

What the Federal Limits on LGBTQ Health Care Pete Ricketts Backed Mean in Nebraska

• Medicaid for LGBTQ Nebraskans. Because LGBTQ+ adults are twice as likely to rely on Medicaid, the work requirement in the law Ricketts voted for reaches LGBTQ Nebraskans in large numbers. Nebraska began enforcing it in May 2026, and the Urban Institute projects that Nebraska's enrollment could decline by between 16,000 and 30,000 people in 2028.
• Insurance for Nebraska families. Nebraskans who buy marketplace coverage can no longer count on it for gender-affirming care, because insurers are prohibited from covering that care as an essential health benefit starting in 2026 under the rule from the agency led by Mehmet Oz, whom Ricketts voted to confirm.

Frequently Asked Questions About Pete Ricketts on LGBTQ rights

Last updated: 2026-10-25

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