Unionized care workers are pushing U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick to reject an ambassadorship nomination for a scandal-plagued nursing home magnate who owned facilities in Western Pennsylvania.

Service Employees International Union Healthcare Pennsylvania staged a small press conference Wednesday morning outside the Republican lawmaker’s office in Downtown Pittsburgh, calling on him to vote against confirming Benjamin Landa as the highest ranking U.S. diplomat to Hungary.

McCormick holds more sway on the matter than most senators as a member of foreign relations committee. Landa’s nomination can’t reach the Senate floor without the committee’s approval. There is no date set for a committee vote.

“Do not promote the wrongdoing of nursing home multimillionaires like Landa, but hold them accountable,” Tyler Nelson, a certified nursing assistant at Harmon House Health and Rehab Center in Mt. Pleasant, said at the press conference.

As of 2021, Landa had 31 nursing homes in the state, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Seven were in Western Pennsylvania: The Grove at Greenville, The Grove at Harmony, The Grove at Irwin, The Grove at Latrobe, The Grove at New Castle, The Grove at New Wilmington and The Grove at Washington.

Landa has since unwound his portfolio in Pennsylvania.

He retains nearly 100 nursing homes concentrated in Kentucky, Florida and his home state of New York.

Landa-owned homes have broadly faced allegations and lawsuits related to understaffing, inadequate care and high rates of covid-19 deaths. The Western Pennsylvania facilities had their own issues while Landa was connected to them.

In 2024, a federal judge ordered nursing home operator Comprehensive Healthcare Management to pay $36 million in back wages and damages to workers at 15 Western Pennsylvania nursing homes, at least some of which were held by Landa.

Four people were hurt in 2020 when the ceiling collapsed at The Grove at Washington.

And in 2016, The Grove at Irwin was cited by the Pennsylvania Department of Health after inspectors said they discovered a pair of nurse aides took cell phone pictures of a naked resident.

Landa could not be reached for comment.

These are just a few of the incidents that motivated the union to launch a pressure campaign on McCormick last week. When the office learned of this effort, it reached out to the union to schedule a meeting, which took place shortly after the press conference.

Sam DeMarco, southwest regional director for McCormick, took the meeting.

DeMarco declined to comment and referred TribLive to Katy Montgomery, a spokeswoman for the senator. She did not immediately return a request for comment.

A union spokesperson said the group expects to hear back from McCormick’s office soon about whether he’ll support Landa’s confirmation.

President Donald Trump nominated Landa in October, roughly a month after he made a $5 million donation to the Make America Great Again Inc. super PAC.

As of 2016, Landa’s estimated net worth was roughly $308 million.

Service Employees International Union claims to be the state’s largest and fastest-growing health care union, boasting more than 25,000 members.