By THERESA POULSON
Had Tom Daschle been confirmed as Health and Human Services secretary, much of his focus would have been on his other appointment -- head of the new White House Office of Health Reform. As the Obama administration seeks a new candidate to lead HHS, should that nominee be tapped for both posts?
In a conversation with National Journal staff Tuesday, former HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said that having his successor also hold the White House post would not necessarily pave a fast track to health care reform.
"I thought, and told Tom Daschle as much, I thought it was a brilliant piece of negotiation going into a position and who wouldn't want to be in that role if you were secretary of health," Leavitt said. "However, I didn't have the illusion, and I don't suspect that he did either, that it was going to eliminate the different points of view and the different perspectives that come inside either interagency White House discussion or a conversation in Congress."
Leavitt added that the new White House position, "at least as I understand it, took the place of either the National Economic Council or the Domestic Policy Council in organizing the meetings. They couldn't eliminate the different perspectives, but they could have the benefit of drawing the agenda. Would it have been an advantage? I suspect it might have been, but it would not have been a formula for automatic consensus."
On health care reform, Leavitt said, "there's going to be no quick victory here. But the department does need leadership, and it needs it soon."
The entire discussion with Leavitt and video of highlights will be posted next Friday.
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