By ANNA EDNEY, CongressDaily
Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas told senators today that overhauling the nation's health care system will be her main mission if confirmed as HHS secretary. "Inaction is not an option. The status quo is unacceptable and unsustainable," Sebelius said, echoing President Obama.
Sebelius endured a fairly easy hearing today, volleying questions from Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee members. Questions ranged from government-run health care to the use of budget reconciliation to the reimportation of prescription drugs, most of which she artfully dodged. HELP ranking member Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., pressed Sebelius on whether she supports using reconciliation to pass a health care overhaul, comparing the fast-track budget process to "a declaration of war." Sebelius declined to give details, saying only Congress should be "involved and engaged in the process." When asked by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., about government-run health care, Sebelius said she opposes the concept but supports a "public option side-by-side with private insurers in some kind of exchange."
In light of recent salmonella outbreaks, including one announced Monday involving pistachios, Sebelius did not rule out handing FDA's food safety responsibilities to a new agency. Declaring it premature to discuss dividing the agency, she said, "However the FDA operates, we have to have a new platform for the safety of our food supply." She avoided the subject of reimportation, which would allow Americans to purchase cheaper drugs from other countries. While she would like to explore avenues to obtain high-quality, low-cost drugs, Sebelius said FDA first needs to restore its reputation.
Sebelius will face more questioning Thursday when she appears before the Senate Finance Committee. The HELP hearing today was a courtesy hearing, while the Finance Committee is tasked with approving Sebelius' nomination.
By ALYSSA ROSENBERG, Government Executive
Employee and industry groups have expressed support for Randy Babbitt, President Obama's choice to head the Federal Aviation Administration.
An aviation consultant and former head of the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA), Babbitt has worked for unions and company management -- experience that has won him the trust of both employee groups and management organizations.
"The FAA needs a leader who is respected by all elements of the aviation industry and who understands the critical importance of front-line aviation workers," said Edward Wytkind, president of the transportation trades division of the AFL-CIO. "Randy Babbitt's nomination answers this call."
Babbitt began his career as a pilot for Eastern Airlines and later became chief executive officer of ALPA, before leaving to create his own consulting company. Babbitt is currently a partner at international management consulting firm Oliver Wyman, where he specializes in advising airlines and workers' unions during restructurings and mergers.
His experience also includes working with FAA on a number of issues. During the George W. Bush administration, Babbitt served on the FAA Management Advisory Council, which helps the agency's administrator make decisions about policy, regulatory and budgetary issues. In addition, he was a member of a 2008 commission that examined how to foster a stronger culture of safety within FAA.
Former FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, now president of the Aerospace Industries Association, said Babbitt's varied perspectives as a pilot, union leader and management consultant make him uniquely well-equipped to tackle the agency's significant challenges.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
President Obama will nominate former Mississippi Democratic Gov. Ray Mabus to be secretary of the Navy, a source in the state told the Associated Press today. Mabus, 60, would replace Donald Winter, a Bush administration holdover who agreed to remain in office through March 20.
As someone who campaigned extensively for Obama last year, Mabus had been mentioned as a candidate for secretary of Education. He served in the Navy from 1970-1972 as a surface warfare officer on the Newport, R.I.-based USS Little Rock. Before then, he was in the Naval ROTC while an undergraduate student at the University of Mississippi. Mabus was governor of Mississippi from January 1988 to January 1992 and served as U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1994-96 under President Clinton. From June 2006 to April 2007, Mabus was chairman and CEO of Foamex International Inc., and helped move the manufacturer of polyurethane foam products out of bankruptcy.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
The Senate Finance Committee will hold a confirmation hearing next Thursday for Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be HHS secretary, the panel announced Thursday.
Sebelius, a Democrat who was President Obama's second choice for the post after former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., withdrew from consideration, is expected to face little opposition.
On Tuesday, Sebelius also will appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in what is being billed as a courtesy hearing.
In other confirmation news, three top Justice Department division nominees won approval Thursday in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
On a single voice vote, the committee approved former Federal Trade Commissioner Christine Varney to head the antitrust division, San Francisco attorney Tony West to lead the civil division and Lanny Breuer, a special counsel to former President Bill Clinton, as head of the criminal division.
By ALINA SELYUKH
Hailed as the first virtual town hall meeting from the White House, President Obama's Q&A this morning wasn't quite as unprecedented as some commentators have claimed. George W. Bush and Bill Clinton both held interactive conversations with ordinary citizens over the Internet while in office, although neither did so in a live format.
On the presidential campaign trail last year, John McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton also attempted to reach larger audiences through new technologies. McCain spoke over the phone in a conference call with supporters, which the Washington Post at the time hailed as "a novel, virtual town hall meeting." And Clinton answered pre-screened questions for an hour during a meeting that was live-streamed to her campaign Web site. In addition, MoveOn.org organized a virtual Q&A with all seven Democratic candidates during the primaries, giving the group's members a chance to ask questions.
But the politician best-known for opening the floor to (pre-screened) questions is current Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. "A Conversation with Vladimir Putin," a TV and radio broadcast featuring Putin fielding queries from Russian citizens, has been held annually since 2002, even this past December after his second term as president ended. For more than three hours, Putin answered around 80 questions submitted via text messages, phone calls, Web submissions and political public consultation offices. They varied from economic issues to the Georgian crisis to the need for Christmas trees and his birthday presents.
By DARREN GOODE, CONGRESSDAILY
President Obama's pick for the No. 2 spot at EPA withdrew his nomination Wednesday on the eve of his Senate confirmation hearing amid a probe into a nonprofit foundation where he was previously on the board of directors.
Jon Cannon, a former senior EPA official and currently an environmental law professor at the University of Virginia, said in a statement that while he was not personally being investigated, the scrutiny surrounding the now-defunct America's Clean Water Foundation was a "distraction" to EPA.
Matt Dempsey, a spokesman for Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member James Inhofe, R-Okla., said committee staff questioned Cannon at a recent meeting regarding a February 2007 EPA inspector general report that said the foundation mismanaged at least $25 million in federal grants it was awarded between 1998 and 2003.
But he called Cannon's withdrawal "very surprising" and that he would have had Inhofe's backing if he had not withdrawn his nomination. "We told him we don't believe this would be anything that would hold you up," Dempsey said.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in a statement that she is "disappointed" and that the administration "will move quickly to identify a new candidate."
The EPA IG report said the foundation had not complied with federal grant regulations. It also violated conflict-of-interest rules by giving a $50,000 contract to the Grizzle Company, a Washington, D.C., consulting firm run by Charles Grizzle, who was vice president of the foundation's board of directors at the time.
Cannon held a variety of positions at EPA under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, eventually rising to become the agency's general counsel under Clinton.
The Senate on Tuesday confirmed former Washington Gov. Gary Locke as Commerce secretary. The voice vote makes Locke, 59, the 15th member of President Obama's Cabinet and leaves only HHS Secretary-designate Kathleen Sebelius remaining to be confirmed.
Locke, a Democrat, was the nation's first Chinese-American governor. He was Obama's third pick to run the Commerce Department, after New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., withdrew from consideration.
By THERESA POULSON
Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii. (Credit: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)
When the Obama administration backed down from a controversial veterans health care proposal in the face of widespread opposition, it got a taste of the difficulties it will face finding money to act on the president's many campaign promises -- especially in expensive and politically loaded areas like health care and taking care of veterans.
President Obama's budget outline for Veterans Affairs would increase the department's budget significantly, but it also called for billing veterans' private insurance providers for the treatment of some battle-related injuries. The proposal would have saved about $540 million, less than 1 percent of the department budget.
When the proposal came to light, veterans' advocates were quick to express opposition, and dozens of lawmakers from both sides of aisle were vocal in their disapproval. The administration quickly changed course.
"This was one of the largest increases for VA by an administration, and that all got lost in the message because of that proposal," said Joseph A. Violante, national legislative director for Disabled American Veterans. "It's the government's responsibility, not my insurance company's responsibility, to care for those disabilities that resulted from my honorable service in the military."
While the third-party billing plan wasn't a direct reneging of Obama's promise to expand benefits to more veterans, it brings to light the difficulties of finding ways to trim the budget in order to make funds available for new initiatives, such as bringing additional veterans into the VA network.
The proposal "wasn't an attempt to swindle veterans," said Jesse Broder Van Dyke, spokesman for Senate Veterans Affairs Chairman Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii. "The money saved would have been kept at VA, but I think that this was a bad idea and it looked particularly bad."
Though the plan would have meant savings for the department, the cost of care would have been passed along to others, Violante said. "If you look at a severely disabled veteran, somebody who might be missing limbs or has traumatic brain injury or needs a lot of care ... their insurance company is not going to pay those additional costs without passing them on to somebody, whether it's the veteran themselves -- increasing their premiums -- or spreading that increase among all policy holders."
Updated at 9:38 a.m. on March 25.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
President Obama announced Monday that he will nominate Neal Wolin to be deputy secretary at the Treasury Department and Lael Brainard to be Treasury undersecretary for international affairs.
The White House said it will keep Stuart Levey, the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, in that position. The appointments, if confirmed by the Senate, will fill three of the four most senior positions beneath Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Wolin is a former general counsel at Treasury in the Clinton administration, and briefly served in the White House as deputy counsel to Obama on economic issues.
Brainard is vice president and founder of the Global Economy and Development Program at the Brookings Institution.
By TOM SHOOP, Government Executive
The White House announced Monday that G. Edward DeSeve, a former high-ranking management official in the Clinton administration, would coordinate efforts at the Office of Management and Budget to implement the recently enacted economic stimulus package.
In his new position, DeSeve will serve as a special adviser to President Obama and assistant to Vice President Joe Biden. He will focus on managing interagency efforts to address provisions of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. That work, the White House said, would complement oversight efforts led by Earl Devaney, head of the Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency Board.
DeSeve currently is a senior lecturer at the Fels Institute for Government of the University of Pennsylvania. He was deputy director for management at OMB during the latter part of President Clinton's term in office. During DeSeve's tenure, he was a key player in coordinating the federal response to the Y2K computer issue.
Before serving at OMB, DeSeve was the chief financial officer at the Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1993 to 1994. Prior to that, he worked in the financial services industry in the private sector. DeSeve also has worked for the city of Philadelphia and as a special assistant to Pennsylvania Gov. Robert Casey.
By KIRK VICTOR
(Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
President Obama's nomination of Christopher Hill to be ambassador to Iraq has prompted fierce criticism from a handful of senior Republican senators in what is likely a prelude to a bruising battle on the Senate floor. Critics including Sen. Sam Brownback charge that Hill, a career diplomat, misled Congress in testimony last year when he was handling the six-party talks dealing with North Korean nuclear disarmament.
Brownback charges that Hill failed to follow through on his promise to confront North Korea on its human rights record. The Kansas Republican, joined by four other GOP senators -- Christopher (Kit) Bond of Missouri, John Ensign of Nevada, James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona -- recently urged the president to withdraw the nomination not only because of what they see as Hill's misleading testimony but also because of his inexperience in dealing with Iraq. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, last year's Republican presidential nominee, also opposes the nomination.
Obama and Senate Democratic leaders counter that as a seasoned diplomat, Hill is well-suited for this key post. Hill also has won a key endorsement from Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the senior Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, who said that Hill had "demonstrated extraordinary diplomatic and managerial skills in dealing with an isolated and inscrutable North Korean regime." Lugar's panel is scheduled to hold a hearing on the nomination Wednesday.
Brownback adamantly disagrees with Lugar. Last year, the Kansan even held up President Bush's nominee to South Korea until Hill agreed to take steps to make North Korea's human rights record part of the negotiations. But the senator says that Hill went back on his word. In an interview with National Journal last week, Brownback discussed his determination to do everything he can to kill the nomination. Edited excerpts follow.
NJ: What do you intend to do when Christopher Hill's nomination to be ambassador to Iraq reaches the Senate floor?
Brownback: We are going to fight hard against Chris. I met with him [on March 18] in my office and he did not allay any of my concerns. When he was conducting six-party talks, I asked him to involve the special envoy for human rights. He didn't want to do it. So I held up an ambassadorial nominee to South Korea. The State Department really wanted that ambassadorial nominee.Finally [former Virginia GOP Senator] John Warner brokered a deal in the Armed Services Committee where Chris Hill was testifying and Warner had me ask questions. One of them was, "Will you invite the special envoy for human rights to the six-party talks?" He said yes, he would. That didn't happen. On his word of doing that, in front of open committee, I lifted my hold on the South Korea ambassador. So he misled me.
NJ: So he lied?
Brownback: He did not do what he said he would do. It was very direct, it was very clear. And it did not happen.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
David Blumenthal, a former Harvard Medical School professor who has advised Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Edward Kennedy and former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, is President Obama's choice to lead health information technology efforts in the new administration. Blumenthal, a physician who was a senior adviser to Obama's presidential campaign last year, will become the national coordinator for health information technology at HHS. He will play a key role in determining how to spend $19 billion devoted to medical technology in the recently enacted economic stimulus bill. Blumenthal most recently has been director of the Institute for Health Policy at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Partners HealthCare System.
By ALINA SELYUKH
Just a few days after President Obama lifted the Bush-era restrictions on human stem cell research, a slew of state lawmakers executed their own reversals, taking steps to reinstate limitations on stem cell research in their states.
The Mississippi House passed an appropriations bill on March 12 allocating funds to the University of Mississippi Medical Center with a caveat that the center not use the money "for research that kills or destroys an existing human embryo."
That same week, the Oklahoma House passed H.B.1326, making it a misdemeanor to destroy, injure, kill or transfer human embryos for research purposes and prohibiting financial support for any state agency engaged in those activities. The bill's author, Republican state Rep. Mike Reynolds, called Obama's actions an "infringement of several states' rights," including "the right to protect lives."
"I absolutely believe that if the federal government messes things up, states have a right to straighten it out," Reynolds told Reuters.
Anthony Gregory, research analyst with California-based nonprofit Independent Institute, agreed that the government "can put out a mandate and tell people what to do, but there are limitations." According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, states have allowed themselves wide latitude in setting research rules: "Approaches to stem cell research policy range from statutes... which encourage embryonic stem cell research, to South Dakota's law, which strictly forbids research on embryos regardless of the source."
"This is really a small number of disapproving parties trying to challenge something that other states may not be interested in" challenging, argued Michael Bird, NCSL's federal affairs counsel. To impact federal policy, states' defiance usually has to be more widespread than just a few instances, Bird said, and so far state efforts to impose new stem cell restrictions were still fairly limited. "It seems the president thinks he's got public opinion on his side," Bird said.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
The Senate voted 61-31 Thursday to confirm Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan as solicitor general. She becomes the first woman to represent the United States before the Supreme Court.
Though Republican senators had raised questions about Kagan's social views and her responsiveness to questions posed at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, several senators noted that the vote came despite limited floor debate on Kagan.
Kagan, 48, has never argued a Supreme Court case, but she clerked for the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
Other Justice Department nominees awaiting Senate confirmation are David Kris, the administration's choice for assistant attorney general for national security, and Dawn Johnsen for assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel. The Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to confirm Johnsen over unanimous GOP objections.
Johnsen will likely face opposition on the floor, said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a Judiciary Committee member.
By DAVID HERBERT
The White House has sought to paint David F. Hamilton, President Obama's first judicial pick, as a moderate with bipartisan support. (Bloomberg News) True enough, Indiana Sens. Richard Lugar (R) and Evan Bayh (D) have both issued statements supporting the Indiana district judge's nomination. But Hamilton served as Bayh's counsel when he was Indiana governor, and Lugar and the nominee have the Hoosier connection. (New York Times)
At least one GOP senator is less sure about the pick: Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., is "troubled by Hamilton's ruling against a sectarian prayer to open the Indiana House of Representatives." (AP)
So is Hamilton a bipartisan pick? The night-and-day responses from judicial watchdogs haven't provided much insight. Depending on who you believe, he's either the second coming of King Solomon or the first in a gloomy series of left-wing activists.
Kathryn Kolbert, president of the liberal People for the American Way, called Hamilton "an extraordinarily good judge" and "an excellent first choice." (Bloomberg News) The conservative Judicial Confirmation Network, meanwhile, sees "an ultra-liberal" and highlights his work passing the hat for ACORN for one month after college and his work on the board of the ACLU. (Washington Post)
Even the American Bar Association's support doesn't come without a historical asterisk. The association recently tagged the judge "well-qualified," its highest rating. Nothing wrong there, right? It's an improvement from 1994, when President Clinton tapped Hamilton for the federal post he now holds; then, the ABA said he was unqualified, explaining that he lacked sufficient trial experience and years practicing. (Indianapolis Star)
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
Outspoken Indiana University law professor Dawn Johnsen was approved today by the Senate Judiciary Committee to be the first woman to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. Her nomination was sent to the Senate on an 11-7 vote, with all Republicans opposed except ranking member Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who "passed," saying he was reserving judgment until he could interview her more closely.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, assailed her strong opposition to Office of Legal Counsel rulings on the war on terrorism during the Bush administration and even her reluctance to use the word "war." He also questioned her legal judgment on such issues as her opposition to the Indiana voter identification law upheld by the Supreme Court. "She has not demonstrated a record of seriousness on national security matters," said Cornyn, who called her a "hardened partisan." Democrats rose to her defense, with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., saying he expected a long fight over her nomination.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved President Obama's choice for Commerce secretary, former Washington Gov. Gary Locke, in a vote off the Senate floor this morning. Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., announced during Locke's confirmation hearing Wednesday that he intended to move quickly to clear the nomination and hoped to have the full Senate vote soon. A leadership aide said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., would work with Republicans on an agreement for a vote but did not indicate a timeline.
By GREGG SANGILLO
(Credit: Hassan Ammar/AFP/Getty Images)
Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., announced on Wednesday that she was leaving her House seat to accept the Obama administration's nomination as undersecretary for arms control and international security at the State Department.
This could be an interesting choice for several reasons. The position was filled by an acting head, John Rood, from mid-2007 through the end of George W. Bush's term. Rood, who was a former NSC staffer and aide to Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., was never confirmed by the Senate; an undersecretary who has gone through the full confirmation process will bring more muscle to the position. And the nomination of a member of Congress would signal the Obama administration's commitment to pledges he made on the campaign trail to pursue nonproliferation.
It could also be a highly influential post in government. It was the launching pad for the controversial conservative John Bolton, who took the lead on arms control issues in the job and became an outspoken hawk on Iran and North Korea.
Tauscher has a reputation as someone with knowledge of the nuclear arsenal and nonproliferation issues, and the Lawrence Livermore nuclear weapons laboratory sits in her district. Tauscher pushed legislation to fund nuclear weapons dismantlement, and she's also led House opposition to funding controversial Energy Department research programs into smaller "bunker busting" nuclear weapons.
On general national security matters, she's somewhat hawkish, but has at times walked a tight rope. She voted for the 2002 resolution to wage war against Iraq. In May 2007, she voted for a failed amendment by Rob Andrews, D-N.J., that would have prevented Iraq and Afghanistan war funding to be expanded into any operation against Iran. But she switched sides and voted against a more sweeping amendment by Oregon Democrat Peter DeFazio that stated no previous law authorized military action against Iran.
Commerce Secretary-designate Gary Locke today affirmed that the yet-unnamed Census Bureau director will report directly to him, answering after being pressed by Senate Commerce ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.
House Republicans have been vociferous opponents of an initial Obama administration announcement, made when Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., was its choice to head the Commerce Department, that the Census Bureau director would report to the White House. Gregg eventually withdrew his nomination amid the census controversy.
Addressing GOP fears that the apportionment of federal resources and congressional redistricting -- determined by the decennial census -- would be influenced by a politicized inflation of minority and hard-to-reach populations, Locke vowed that the bureau will use an actual head count for apportionment and has "no plans to use any kind of statistical sampling with respect to population count."
For more on the hearing, read CongressDailyPM (subscription).
Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, is threatening to hold up the nomination of the Interior Department's second-in-command to get more answers on why the Obama administration canceled oil and gas leases in his state.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today approved the nomination of David Hayes to be deputy Interior secretary, 17-5. Bennett afterward said he will put a hold on the nomination until he sits down with Hayes and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar about those leases. "We've been trying to get an appointment with them; I think maybe now they'll give us one," Bennett said after the vote. An Interior spokesman said Salazar and Hayes "are looking forward to talking to Senator Bennett about his concerns."
For more on this story, read CongressDailyPM (subscription).
The Senate confirmed former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk to be U.S. Trade Representative today, 92-5, winning over a reluctant Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and other Republicans concerned about mixed signals from the Obama administration on trade. "Mr. Kirk has been less than forthcoming on a number of trade issues that affect this country, and some of the positions that he has articulated are very dangerous for this nation's future," McCain said in a floor speech, before concluding that he would vote to confirm Kirk regardless.
For more on this story, see CongressDailyPM (subscription).
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
President Obama's new computer chief, just restored from a forced leave after an FBI raid at his old office, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft in 1996 when he was 21 years old.
White House spokesman Nick Shapiro refused to say what Vivek Kundra, now 34, stole or whether the administration knew of Kundra's guilty plea before announcing his appointment, but he dismissed the old charge against him as a "youthful indiscretion."
Court records show that Kundra pleaded guilty to theft of less than $300 on Aug. 27, 1996, in Rockville, Md. He was sentenced to supervised probation, community service and a small fine. A case file describing the offense could not be found.
"Vivek committed a youthful indiscretion," Shapiro said. "He performed community service, and we are satisfied that he fully resolved the matter."
Obama appointed Kundra March 5 to the White House post of chief federal information officer in charge of purchases of computers and other information technology.
A week later, the FBI raided the District of Columbia technology office, which Kundra had led until recently. Agents arrested a city employee and a technology consultant on corruption charges, and Kundra was put on leave from his White House post until further details became known, but was reinstated Tuesday.
"Mr. Kundra has been informed that he is neither a subject nor a target of the investigation and has been reinstated," Shapiro said.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
The Senate is expected to confirm Ron Kirk as U.S. Trade Representative this afternoon. While some Republicans have questioned his views, enough of them have said they would vote for him to make getting 60 votes a virtual certainty. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said on the floor this morning that he would "reluctantly" vote for confirmation. Still, he said Kirk had been "less than forthcoming on a number of trade issues" and has backed administration policies that could put the country on the path to "protectionism and isolationism." The vote is scheduled for 2 p.m.
By BRIAN FRIEL
Defense contractors enjoyed robust growth in business over the past decade as both the Clinton and Bush Pentagons converted tens of thousands of jobs from government employees to contractor personnel.
But as the Obama administration looks for ways to reduce growth in the defense budget, the Pentagon is eyeing those contractor jobs as targets. At a House Budget Committee hearing this morning, Chairman John Spratt, D-S.C., asked the Pentagon's top accountant why the defense budget has grown so much faster than inflation over the past decade.
Robert Hale, the Defense Department comptroller, told Spratt that those outsourced contractor jobs have ended up being more expensive than government workers. Now the Pentagon is looking at bringing some of those contractor jobs back in-house, Hale said. We "need to look carefully at how many contractors we're using," Hale said.
On the campaign trail, Barack Obama promised to cut all federal contractor spending by at least 10 percent and end the abuse of no-bid contracts.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
The Senate Agriculture Committee late Monday unanimously approved President Obama's appointment of Gary Gensler as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The nomination now goes to the full Senate.
Senate Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, had initially expressed concerns about Gensler's nomination because he had supported less regulation when he worked at the Treasury Department during the Clinton administration while the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 was in development. The law exempted derivatives from regulation.
At his confirmation hearing Gensler said he had come to believe that stronger regulation is needed.
By AMY HARDER
A panel discussion hosted by the Woodrow Wilson Center on Monday offered the Obama administration warnings and advice for navigating the forthcoming judicial nominations that Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is hoping the president will send to his committee before lawmakers' spring recess early next month.
James Flug, who worked for Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., as counsel and later as chief counsel, has experienced the intricacies of judicial nominations from the staff level. Flug advises President Obama to "lay out what his principles of selection are in a way that's clear and simple and honest and that reflects these values and the values he wants to see an an appellate judge. There's a real opportunity for leadership," said Flug.
He cautioned, however, that Senate Republicans' recent threat to filibuster the president's choices before they've even been laid out suggests that the GOP is "not in good faith." Sarah Binder, George Washington professor and Brookings Institute senior fellow, reiterated that caution, saying the unified control Democrats enjoy in both houses of Congress is "not magic or a silver bullet" when it comes to confirming judicial nominees. She predicted that many judges appointed during Jimmy Carter's administration, who did not want to retire while a Republican was in office, could likely choose to now.
Obama should find a way to inform his millions of followers, mostly amassed during the campaign, about judicial nominations, Flug said. Emphasizing that people don't understand the process and issues as well as they should, Flug said that if Obama "can give a very clear and candid and understandable version of what he's looking for in a judge, the public will become a part of the process."
The panelists often referenced the divergent confirmation processes of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, both nominated by George W. Bush in his second term. While the former was rather clean and simple, the panelists agreed, the latter created unwelcome controversy. A nomination of this level isn't as imminent as those at the lower-level federal courts, but it is expected that at least one -- possibly up to three -- Supreme Court justices will retire during Obama's term. Considering how technology has evolved, especially in terms of e-mail and electronic document retrieval, Flug said confirmation could become a much more time-consuming process that delves deeply into the nominee's past life. Sometimes too much so, he added.
New York Times Washington correspondent David Kirkpatrick, who has covered Supreme Court and executive branch nominations, said that the structure of a judicial confirmation by way of the Senate creates an "atmosphere of a treasure hunt," almost as if lawmakers are searching for a piece of information about nominees before the news media gets to it. "It is a bizarre experience to be a part of it," Kirkpatrick said.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., hopes his committee will receive the first batch of judicial nominees from the Obama administration before lawmakers begin the spring recess early next month. He said today he wants to have hearings soon after members return and has urged the White House to work quickly to finalize nominations.
Confirmations are likely to be difficult after 41 Senate Republicans wrote to President Obama this month threatening to filibuster if they do not agree with his choices. They described selecting judges as a "shared constitutional responsibility" and recommended that Obama renominate three of former President George W. Bush's failed nominees: Peter Keisler, Glen Conrad and Paul Diamond.
If Obama and Senate Democrats do not get GOP senators' blessing for the nominees in their home states, "the Republican Conference will be unable to support moving forward on that nominee," the letter said.
By MEGAN SCULLY
President Obama on Saturday nominated Margaret Hamburg, former New York City health commissioner, to head the FDA, and announced he is taking new measures to address food safety.
During his weekly radio address, Obama said a lack of funds and staff at FDA in recent years have left the agency with only enough resources to inspect just 7,000 of 150,000 food processing plants and warehouses annually.
"That means roughly 95 percent of them go uninspected," Obama said. "That is a hazard to public health. It is unacceptable."
Obama said he will request $1 billion to strengthen the food safety system and modernize labs. A portion of that funding will go toward increasing the number of food inspectors, he said.
Besides nominating Hamburg, whose selection had been leaked earlier this week, Obama named Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore's health commissioner, as FDA's principal deputy commissioner, the agency's second in command.
Both Hamburg and Sharfstein are Harvard Medical School graduates, with Hamburg widely regarded as an expert in food safety, infectious diseases and bio-terrorism. Sharfstein is a former aide to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on health issues. He also evaluated the FDA for the Obama transition team and had been a candidate for FDA commissioner. While Hamburg's nomination will require Senate confirmation, Sharfstein will be able to start work immediately.
In his radio address, Obama also announced the creation of a Food Safety Working Group.
"This working group will bring together cabinet secretaries and senior officials to advise me on how we can upgrade our food safety laws for the 21st century, foster coordination throughout government, and ensure that we are not just designing laws that will keep the American people safe, but enforcing them," he said.
By AMY HARDER
Do President Obama's White House "czars" have too much power? Should they face Senate confirmation? These concerns have been raised by a growing number of observers as the president's team of czars continues to expand.
Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., sent a letter to Obama on Feb. 23, cautioning that "the rapid and easy accumulation of power by the White House staff can threaten the constitutional system of checks and balances." He urged the president to limit the power of these high-level White House officials who are not cleared by Congress.
In the Washington Post this week, Yale law and political science professor Bruce Ackerman went a step further, arguing that czars should in fact undergo Senate confirmation. Ackerman noted that if Tom Daschle had been appointed only to the health czar post and not as Health and Human Services secretary, his tax problems might never have surfaced and he would be well on his way to leading the charge for health care reform. Furthermore, Ackerman wrote, while HHS Secretary-designate Kathleen Sebelius goes through Senate confirmation, her White House counterpart, Nancy-Ann DeParle, will "escape scrutiny" despite the fact that "DeParle will also play a commanding role in health care reform, and her record is less well known than that of Sebelius."
In an interview with Lost In Transition, Ackerman reiterated his concerns. "The idea of appointing a large number of czars -- loyalists to the president -- is like a king's courtship," he said. "They're highly intelligent, and they're 100 percent loyal to the president, and [he] never has to justify their selection to anybody else."
Ackerman emphasized that no particular Obama appointment compelled him to write the piece. But he said that this president's increased use of czars, coupled with former Vice President Dick Cheney's powerful "policy czar" role in the Bush administration, indicate a disturbing trend in the executive branch. "The creation of this hyper-politicized staff in the White House is both an example and a caution about the uses and abuses of the president's power," Ackerman said.
On the other hand, Ackerman also acknowledged that the Senate confirmation process itself is "self-indulgent" and convoluted. "The Senate has to get much more serious and professional about this," he said. "It's horrible to have a government for six months that simply has most high-policy positions vacant. It's just unacceptable." Next week, the Woodrow Wilson Center will be hosting a panel discussion on possible reform of the confirmation process. Check back with Lost In Transition next week for more on this subject.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
President Obama's new computer chief, Vivek Kundra, is on leave from his White House job after the FBI raided his old District of Columbia government office Thursday, arresting a city employee and a technology consultant on corruption charges, a White House official said.
The charges were lodged against the two men at a federal court hearing as the FBI finished searching the city's technology office, which was led until recently by Kundra.
Kundra is on leave from his White House job until further details of the case become known, according to a White House official speaking on condition of anonymity.
At the court hearing, Yusuf Acar, the acting chief security officer in the city's technology office, was ordered held without bond pending a hearing Tuesday. Prosecutors said $70,000 in cash was found during a search of Acar's Washington home and that he posed a flight risk.
Technology consultant Sushil Bansal of Dunn Loring, Va., was released but was ordered not to conduct overseas financial transactions or leave the area. Bansal is due back in court on April 21, and prosecutors said they hoped a plea agreement could be reached in his case.
Acar worked under Kundra, Obama's choice to coordinate federal computer systems. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs would not say whether the White House knew the investigation was under way when it named Kundra last week.
Mafara Hobson, a spokeswoman for Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty, said she was very confident Kundra is not a target of the investigation.
NextGov's Gautham Nagesh has more on the raid and on Kundra's possible future in the administration here.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
At least three Republican senators have said that President Obama should reconsider his choice for the next U.S. ambassador to Iraq, dimming the chances that veteran diplomat Christopher Hill could be confirmed.
Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Sam Brownback of Kansas said they were disappointed with Hill's appointment, announced Wednesday by the White House. All three senators cited a lack of experience in the Middle East to explain their opposition to Hill.
During the Bush administration, Hill led nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea. While considered a seasoned negotiator, Hill was regarded by many Republicans as too willing to make concessions to try to prod Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.
If confirmed, Hill would replace Ryan Crocker as America's top diplomat in Baghdad.
By WINTER CASEY
Increasing violence in Mexico means President Obama's pick for drug czar, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, must add fighting the cartels and helping to secure the border to an already lengthy list of challenges. A report about trends in national security made last year by the United States Joint Forces Command said "an unstable Mexico could represent a homeland security problem of immense proportions" and listed the country alongside Pakistan as risking "rapid and sudden collapse."
Vice President Joe Biden, who helped create the drug czar position in the '80s, on Wednesday described the challenges facing the drug czar as "daunting" at a press conference announcing the selection. "Nowhere is that more true than in the southwest border today," he said. "Since the beginning of last year there have been nearly 7,000 drug-related murders in Mexico.... Violent drug trafficking organizations are threatening both the United States and Mexican communities."
Biden described Kerlikowske's role as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy as central in developing a southwest border strategy that uses new technologies and information sharing. The czar can also support Mexican efforts by reducing drug use in the United States, said John Carnevale, who has served three administrations and four heads of the ONDCP. "Mexico needs our help and support in the short run from law enforcement," he said via e-mail. "The long-run solution is to reduce U.S. demand."
Eric Sterling, president of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, called it highly unlikely that Mexico would become a failed state, but he sees three possible scenarios unfolding. The Mexican government could capture enough of the criminal leadership to win by seriously weakening the cartels. Or the status quo could continue as "cartels, through intimidation and violence, regain power in certain areas in the country and there is kind of a continued standoff." The worst possibility according to Sterling would be if Mexican President Felipe Calderon gets cold feet, declares victory and ends the fight so "the cartels resume their operations unmolested."
Critics worry Obama's decision not to include the drug czar at the Cabinet level will hamstring efforts. During a press briefing at the White House Wednesday, a journalist questioned whether now was a good time "to demote the drug czar out of the Cabinet-level position when there's a rather active shooting drug war going on in Mexico." White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs responded by saying the president "wouldn't be nominating somebody that didn't have full and complete access to him."
Continue reading Mexico Violence Just One Of Many Challenges Facing New Drug Czar.
The FBI has arrested an employee of the D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer along with a private contractor in a federal bribery sting, according to AP and Washington's WTOP radio. Vivek Kundra recently left his position as head of that office to work as chief information officer in the Obama administration but has not been linked to the ongoing investigation.
WTOP is reporting that the office's acting chief security officer, Yusuf Acar, and Advanced Integrated Technologies Corp. President Sushil Bansal have been arrested and that the FBI has searched two floors of the downtown D.C. office building, but few details have been forthcoming. In initial accounts, the FBI, the White House, the office of Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty and a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office have all refused to comment.
The news that Kundra was not a target of the raid produced some relief in tech quarters. Kundra has generated excitement for his plans to improve outdated federal IT systems and set up a site called data.gov to make available more of the government's vast stores of data.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
Lawmakers from agrarian districts want President Obama to open a White House Office of Rural Policy as a counterpart to the Office of Urban Affairs he established last month. Members of the Congressional Rural Caucus, co-chaired by Reps. Travis Childers, D-Miss., and Adrian Smith, R-Neb., sent Obama a letter Tuesday making the proposal. "Just like urban areas, rural congressional districts face challenges unique to their communities," said Childers. "... An Office of Rural Policy would help create a closer working relationship between rural and urban interests, and foster policies that benefit both communities."
CongressDaily subscribers can read the entire report here.
By PETER COHN, CongressDaily
The Senate Finance Committee will vote Thursday on the nomination of former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk to be U.S. Trade Representative, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., announced today.
Kirk appeared before the panel in a rapid-fire hearing Monday evening that was cut short due to votes on amendments to the FY09 omnibus appropriations bill. There appear to be no impediments to his confirmation, although the hearing Monday was sparsely attended. There was little reference to Kirk's tax troubles, which include nearly $10,000 in underpayments uncovered by Finance investigators.
Across the Capitol, House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Sander Levin, D-Mich., held an organizational meeting for the 111th Congress, outlining a broad agenda ranging from a hearing on the trade aspects of climate change March 24 to renewal of expiring trade preferences programs granting numerous developing nations duty-free access to U.S. markets.
Levin said he was heartened by Kirk's testimony Monday, which signaled a shift away from negotiating new trade agreements and toward enforcement of existing ones. He said he hopes to move trade enforcement legislation that he introduced with Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., in January "expeditiously," but said the bill could be revamped in talks with Kirk and the Obama administration.
The complete story is available to CongressDaily subscribers.
By WINTER CASEY
Stewart Baker, a Department of Homeland Security official until January, has re-joined the law firm Steptoe & Johnson. He will focus on technology and security issues for the firm, including cybersecurity, encryption and surveillance.
Baker became the first DHS assistant secretary for policy in 2005, and before that served as general counsel to the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, the committee charged with investigating the intelligence failure in Iraq. Prior to that, he was general counsel to the National Security Agency and deputy general counsel to the Department of Education. He has also clerked for Justice John Paul Stevens.
By ANNA EDNEY and GEORGE E. CONDON JR., CongressDaily
(Credit: Rick Bloom/National Journal)
Leading lawmakers pushing to overturn the funding restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research today called on Congress to move quickly to pass their legislation to lock federal support into law as President Obama lifted those restrictions through executive order.
Sens. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Reps. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., and Michael Castle, R-Del., proposed the measure, which Harkin and Specter plan to reintroduce today. Harkin and Specter serve as the chairman and ranking member on the Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations subcommittee that handles the NIH budget.
Obama's decision leaves to Congress to decide whether taxpayer dollars will fund the controversial science that many expect holds cures for numerous debilitating diseases. "We will vigorously support scientists who pursue this research," Obama said, adding that his signature would ensure "that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda and that we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology."
The complete story is available to CongressDaily subscribers.
By ALINA SELYUKH
(Credit: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images)
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday hailed "a fresh start" in U.S. relations with Russia after a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Coming on the heels of revelations about President Obama's early overtures to President Dmitry Medvedev, last week's meeting is part of a larger push by the White House to reset a relationship that has deteriorated over the past eight years.
It's a change many say is long overdue. "The war in Georgia made clear that U.S. policy toward Russia requires a fundamental reassessment and a new direction," wrote Anders Aslund, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and Andrew Kuchins, director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in a joint March 2009 Russia Policy Brief. Both experts call the current conditions "a new post-Soviet nadir," the lowest point since the Reagan-Gorbachev summit in 1986. They attributed the cooling in large part to the Bush administration's lack of a clear policy on Russia.
Friday's meeting didn't yield any immediate progress on sore subjects like missile defense or Kosovo, but the change in approach from the previous adminsitration was apparent. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice struck a harsher tone on her way to meeting Lavrov for the first time in early 2005, urging Russia to "make clear to the world" its commitment to "the basics of democracy," specifically the independent judiciary, strong rule of law and free press.
In a press conference after his meeting with Clinton, Lavrov cited "open and friendly atmosphere" of the talks, according to the Russian Interfax news agency. Another Russian agency, RIA Novosti, reported his plea that the two countries continue to partner in the "fight against global challenges and threats, such as proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism."
Lavrov has characterized the talks as an important step in laying the groundwork for when Obama and Medvedev meet at the G20 summit in early April. Clinton, for her part, told BBC News that NATO's agreement to resume talks with Russia, especially about the coalition's mission in Afghanistan, proved a willingness to shift its attitude towards a former enemy. That message was similar to the one sent by Vice President Joe Biden at the Munich Security Conference in February, when he said it was time for the U.S. and Russia "to revisit the many areas where we can and should work together."
In the meantime, a recent Atlantic Council poll showed that Europeans are more optimistic about a possible warning than Americans themselves are. While the Europeans' opinion on the potential improvement was almost split, more than 68 percent of Americans expected the effort to "prove largely futile."
by JEANNETTE LEE, CongressDaily
Sens. Thomas Carper, D-Del. and John McCain, R-Ariz., and others on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Federal Financial Management Subcommittee are urging the president to nominate a Census Bureau director, pronto.
With just a year until the decennial count, the bureau has yet to thoroughly test new technologies, is thin on staff and is far from solving the long-standing problem of undercounting ethnic minorities, a GAO official told the panel at a hearing Thursday.
Given the tight deadlines, the leadership vacuum at the Census Bureau badly needs filling, said Carper, the subcommittee chairman.
"Uncertainties surround the bureau's readiness for 2010," testified Robert Goldenkoff, director of strategic issues at GAO. "They are under the gun."
Goldenkoff and five other witnesses said a good troubleshooter at the helm would be key to pulling off what is slated to be the country's most expensive national headcount to date. Former Census Bureau Director Barbara Bryant urged the subcommittee to "do everything in your power and use your influence on the administration" to get a new director.
Carper asked each witness to recommend two prospects by the close of business today "who you think are well-equipped to do this job." Carper said he would forward the names to Commerce Secretary-designate Gary Locke, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and "probably" to Vice President Joe Biden, Carper's former fellow senator from Delaware.
"Maybe the administration has its own candidates," Carper said, but "we'll submit a talent pool in case they need help in that regard." Carper told CongressDaily he didn't have any nominees in mind, but "we know there are good people out there."
NextGov has more on the challenges facing the bureau as 2010 approaches.
By WINTER CASEY
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar welcomed yet another "czar" to the Obama administration today. As the "recovery czar" for the Department of the Interior, Chris Henderson will oversee more than $3 billion the department plans to invest in communities, parks, and public lands.
Henderson, who has been named senior adviser to the secretary for economic recovery, has served as the chief operating officer for Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper since 2006 and also has experience in private equity investing.
National Journal reported in February about the multitude of czars Obama has named or promised to name in his administration. Still yet to be filled are the congressionally created White House position of intellectual property enforcement coordinator, or "IP czar," and the long-promised tech czar post. Obama reportedly has selected Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske to be the nation's next drug czar and Melissa Hathaway may become the next cybersecurity czar.
By GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE STAFF
President Obama today named Vivek Kundra to serve as federal chief information officer at the White House, a newly created position.
As CIO, Obama said, Kundra would work closely with a still-to-be-named chief technology officer to implement the administration's technology agenda. The president added that Kundra "will play a key role in making sure our government is running in the most secure, open and efficient way possible."
The federal CIO, according to a White House announcement, "directs the policy and strategic planning of federal information technology investments and is responsible for oversight of federal technology spending." That includes establishing and overseeing an enterprise architecture for federal systems.
Kundra has been rumored to be a candidate both for the CTO job and to be administrator for e-government and information technology in the Office of Management and Budget. He had been serving as chief technology officer for the District of Columbia, where he was responsible for managing technology operations at 86 city agencies.
BY CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
The White House is quietly assembling a list of two -- and potentially three -- more candidates for the FCC now that President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that he wants his chief technology adviser and close confidante Julius Genachowski as chairman. Mignon Clyburn, a state regulator and daughter of House Majority Whip James Clyburn, is a leading contender for Democratic commissioner. The younger Clyburn, who has served on the Public Service Commission of South Carolina for more than a decade, declined to comment.
She would replace Jonathan Adelstein, who is under serious consideration to run the Rural Utilities Service, an Agriculture Department division that issues loans and grants for telecom, energy and water treatment projects. The RUS is set to receive $2.5 billion in loans from the economic stimulus package to promote broadband deployment. Adelstein, whose term expired in June but can remain through 2009 pending renomination, would exit when a successor is confirmed. Sources said the administration doesn't plan to renew his term. CongressDaily' subscribers can read the full story.
By AMY HARDER
Updated at 3:05 p.m.
President Obama today announced the nomination of Craig Fugate as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Fugate is currently the director of the Florida division of Emergency Management. Before being appointed to this post in 2001 by then-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), Fugate had a 15-year career in local government as a firefighter, paramedic and emergency manager for Alachua County, Fla. Gov. Charlie Crist (R) reappointed Fugate in December 2006.
Fugate will join Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano at an event Thursday in New Orleans. DHS also announced today that Napolitano has appointed Jason McNamara as FEMA chief of staff. McNamara is currently director of emergency management at Dewberry, a consulting firm based in Arlington, Va.
If confirmed, Fugate will face the task of overseeing an agency widely criticized for its handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which has spurred a debate over whether FEMA should become a stand-alone agency again, as it was before DHS was formed. DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner argued against removing FEMA from DHS in a February report, as did a recent Center for Strategic and International Studies panel.
President Obama announced today his nominees for two positions: John Berry as director of the Office of Personnel Management and Julius Genachowski as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
Berry, who worked in the Clinton administration's Treasury Department, is currently the director of the National Zoo and served previously as director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. If confirmed, Berry will replace Kathie Ann Whipple, who has been serving as acting director since January.
Genachowski is co-founder and managing director of LaunchBox Digital and Rock Creek Ventures, both technology investment firms based in Washington. He has also held a host of federal positions, including advising lawmakers on legal and technology issues and serving as a law clerk for judges such as Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter.
In a conversation with NationalJournal.com this January, President Bush's FCC director, Kevin Martin, offered advice for his successor at the agency.
Read their complete bios, per the White House, after the jump.
By AMY HARDER
(Credit: Rick Bloom/National Journal)
President Obama today announced his nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) as secretary of Health and Human Services, filling a vacancy that opened up almost a month ago when Tom Daschle pulled out amid revelations that he had failed to pay his back taxes.
Obama also named Nancy-Ann DeParle, administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration during the Clinton administration, as his choice to lead the newly minted Office of Health Reform. Since leaving HCFA in 2000, DeParle has been serving on corporate boards and working at a New York private equity firm, Harvard University and Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Obama touted Sebelius' willingness to work across the aisle and DeParle's extensive experience on health care regulatory issues. Sebelius has "bridged the partisan divide and worked a Republican legislature to get things done for the people of Kansas," the president said at a White House press conference. She "knows health care inside and out."
"Kathleen and Nancy share my resolve," the president said. "I look forward to working with them as we begin the urgent and immediate task of ensuring quality, affordable health care for every American."
He also underscored the importance of working with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., lawmakers the administration deems crucial in passing health care.
Sebelius was re-elected in 2006 for her second term as governor, and she endorsed Obama in January 2008. Before her governorship, she served eight years as Kansas insurance commissioner. (Subscribers can read her full profile in the Almanac of American Politics here.) While Daschle was slated to fill both the HHS post and the White House health czar, Obama has chosen to split the role between two appointments.
In her remarks at the press conference, Sebelius drew parallels between the ailing economy and health care, stressing that "we can't fix the economy without fixing health care." She went on to emphasize her commitment to working across the aisle. "This isn't a partisan challenge; it's an American challenge, and one that we can't afford to ignore," she said.
Continue reading Obama Announces Sebelius For HHS, DeParle As Health Czar.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
(Credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)
Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee this afternoon revealed that another of President Obama's nominees -- U.S. Trade Representative-designate Ron Kirk -- has tax problems.
Finance staff briefed aides to committee members today on the revelations, which indicate the former Dallas mayor underpaid taxes to the tune of $9,975 during 2005-07, and that he has agreed to promptly file adjustments. The underpayments deal in part with speaking honoraria he received that he listed as charitable donations to his alma mater, Austin College.
Kirk instead should have reported the honoraria as taxable income and then deducted the donations. The panel also asked Kirk for substantiation of other charitable donations he has made, including a television set, and it has questioned Kirk's write-offs of business expenses, including those for Dallas Mavericks season tickets.
Finance Committee leaders said in a joint statement that it was important for all panel members to have the necessary information in advance of next Monday's confirmation hearing. In a separate statement, Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., reiterated support for the nominee: Kirk "is the right person for this job and I will work to move his nomination quickly," he said.
