Senate Finance Committee To Vote Tuesday On HHS Sec. Nominee Sebelius; Confirmation Expected

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 21 Apr 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday is expected to vote to confirm Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) as HHS secretary, BNA reports. The full Senate also must confirm the nomination before Sebelius can become HHS secretary (BNA, 4/17). The committee was expected to confirm Sebelius after a hearing before the panel April 2, but committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) postponed the vote to allow Republican members more time to consider the nomination.

Sebelius is the only Cabinet nominee yet to be confirmed. Her nomination experienced "brief hiccups" over tax errors and campaign donations from Kansas abortion provider George Tiller, but her confirmation "has not been in doubt," according to Roll Call (Brady, Roll Call, 4/17). Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking Republican on the Finance Committee, said on Friday that the contributions from Tiller have "raised a lot of concern among pro-life people." However, Sebelius continues to have the backing of her state's two Republican senators, Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts, both of whom oppose abortion rights.

White House spokesperson Kate Bedingfield said the administration remains confident that Sebelius will be confirmed. "Gov. Sebelius has enjoyed significant bipartisan support throughout the nomination process," she said (Norman, CQ HealthBeat, 4/17).

Obama Announces Chief Technology Officer

In other administration news, President Obama on Saturday announced Virginia Technology Secretary Aneesh Chopra as the nation's first chief technology officer, a post that the president said will "promote technological innovation to help achieve our most urgent priorities," including reducing health care costs, the Washington Post reports. According to the Post, Chopra worked on the Obama transition team and has been under consideration for months for a job in the administration, including chief of technology at HHS (Shear/Kumar, Washington Post, 4/19).

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