Senate panel approves nominee for HHS general counsel

The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday approved the nomination of William Schultz to be the top lawyer at the Health and Human Services Department.

The panel approved Schultz's nomination 23-1. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) cast the only "no" vote.

Grassley said he wasn't voting against Schultz based on his qualifications, but because HHS has not cooperated with his requests for information about changes to Medicare and the monitoring of employees' email.

Schultz has deep experience within HHS, on Capitol Hill and on K Street. He is a former attorney for the Food and Drug Administration and for the Justice Department. He came to his current role as acting HHS general counsel from the law and lobbying firm Zuckerman Spaeder.

He also worked on healthcare and tobacco regulation issues for Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.).

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