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A senior Democratic official on Wednesday said that former Senate
Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) would be tapped to run the Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS). Daschle, who should be confirmed easily, would oversee major
health initiatives that President-elect Barack Obama plans to undertake.
The selection of a prominent and influential former lawmaker could
be seen as a clear signal that the incoming Obama administration intends to
follow through on the president-elect’s campaign promises to make a
wholehearted push to overhaul the nation’s healthcare system.
During his presidential campaign, Obama promised to sign into law
sweeping health reform legislation by the end of his first term in the White
House.
Drawing on the experience and relationships of the former Senate
Democratic leader could pay dividends for Obama during the health reform push,
as key Democratic senators such as Edward Kennedy (Mass.), Max Baucus (Mont.)
and Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) have already begun drafting a legislative
vehicle.
Daschle was an early supporter of Obama’s candidacy and was a
national co-chairman of the campaign, during which he advised Obama on health
issues. Daschle also co-authored a book published earlier this year on health
reform, titled Critical: What
We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis. A laudatory quote from Obama is emblazoned on book's cover in large lettering -- above the title. "Sen. Daschle brings fresh thinking to this problem," Obama is credited as saying. Reports of Daschle’s designation as the eventual HHS nominee provoked
praise from influential liberal healthcare activist Ron Pollack, president of
Families USA, who described the pick as “the best news possible for those who
want to achieve meaningful healthcare reform.”
Since losing his reelection bid in 2004 to Sen. John Thune (R),
Daschle has focused considerable energy on health issues.
In addition to writing the book, Daschle holds the title of
distinguished senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a liberal
think tank run by the head of Obama’s transition, John Podesta.
Daschle also co-founded the Bipartisan Policy Center with former
Senate Majority Leaders George Mitchell (D-Maine), Bob Dole (R-Kan.) and Howard
Baker (R-Tenn.), through which the foursome have been developing health reform
proposals.
Daschle also serves as a senior adviser at the law and lobbying
firm Alston & Bird, though he has never registered to lobby. Alston &
Bird has a sizable stable of corporate healthcare clients.
His wife, Linda Daschle, is a lobbyist at Baker, Donelson, Bearman,
Caldwell & Berkowitz, where she works primarily for airline and aerospace
clients.
As reports began to emerge Wednesday that Obama had offered the
Cabinet post to Daschle, the president-elect’s office made an official
announcement that Daschle would head the transition team’s working group on
health policy.
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), who was interviewed on MSNBC,
called Daschle a "very good" pick, adding that he believes his former
colleague "does not have any skeletons in his closet" that could
jeopardize his confirmation.
Other Republicans were not as welcoming of the choice.
“Barack Obama is filling his administration with
long-time Washington insiders. Since losing his Senate seat, Tom Daschle has worked
for a major lobbying firm,” said Republican National Committee spokesman Alex
Conant. “For voters hoping to see new faces and fewer lobbyist-connections in
government, Daschle’s nomination will be another disappointment. Obama promised
to change America's health care system, but his nominee to be secretary is no
change agent.”
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