Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) is raising the question of ethics violations against Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-VT) use of committee resources to promote and support a nursing strike in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Sanders, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, announced on Thursday that his committee would be holding a field hearing on Oct. 27 two miles away from the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where nearly 2,000 nurses have been on strike since mid-August.

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Sanders has been a vocal supporter of the nursing staff, who are protesting for more appropriate nurse-to-patient ratios and greater compensation. Two weeks into the strike, Sanders issued a press release and letter to hospital system administrators accusing them of "unfair labor practices" and not negotiating in good faith. In September, Sanders also hosted a livestream event with the striking nurses through his campaign website.

"The Senate HELP Committee should not be used to take sides in a private labor dispute, and especially not to support a favored political organization," Cassidy wrote to Sanders on Friday. "Official actions like hearings should not become avenues for chairs to give unions, corporations, or any other groups the imprimatur of the Senate HELP Committee."

Cassidy, the ranking member on the committee, chided Sanders further, saying that if the chairman was "interested in a genuine policy discussion on nursing workforce challenges," there could have been bipartisan consensus following up on work done earlier this year on healthcare workforce shortages.

Cassidy said it has been "over four months" since the last HELP Committee hearing and that field hearings are significantly more expensive and time-consuming.

"This creates the appearance that this hearing is an attempt to use the Senate Committee that we lead, and its resources, to support one side in a labor dispute," Cassidy wrote.

Contract negotiations between RWJBarnabas Health and the nurses's union began in April. Hospital administrators say that both sides agreed to a new contract in July ensuring that RJWBarnabas nurses earn more than 14% than workers in other similar hospitals. Union membership, however, rejected the deal.

The strike has had "significant economic consequences" for the hospital, according to statements from administrators, spending more than $25 million on replacement nurses since the strike started.

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"Political leaders interjecting themselves into these disputes, including through reiterating unsubstantiated allegations of illegal conduct that are before the agencies created to assess such allegations, corrupts the process that Congress carefully established," Cassidy said.

Sanders' office has not yet responded to the Washington Examiner's request for comment.