Senate Finance Committee Approves Kansas Gov. Sebelius' Nomination To Be HHS Secretary

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology;  Public Health
Article Date: 23 Apr 2009 - 0:00 PDT

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The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday voted to approve the nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) to be HHS secretary, the Washington Post reports. The committee voted 15-8 in favor of sending Sebelius' nomination to the full Senate, with only two Republicans on the panel -- Sens. Pat Roberts (Kan.) and Olympia Snowe (Maine) -- supporting her nomination. According to the Post, several Republicans said they were opposed to her nomination because of her support for abortion rights and the Obama administration's health care reform plans (Connolly, Washington Post, 4/22). Committee member Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said that although he initially supported Sebelius' nomination, his "strong beliefs in the sanctity of life simply made it impossible" to support her nomination (Lengell, Washington Times, 4/22). However, a Senate Democratic aide said, "I don't see any reason why they voted against her, other than that she is the face of the administration's stance on health care reform" (Brady, Roll Call, 4/22).

A spokesperson for Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking Republican on the committee, said the senator was concerned about "a lack of candor" from Sebelius regarding political contributions from Kansas abortion provider George Tiller. According to the Los Angeles Times, Sebelius earlier this month told the committee that she had inadvertently understated contributions she received from Tiller (Levey, Los Angeles Times, 4/22). BNA reports that Sebelius initially told the committee in a written response to member questions that Tiller contributed $12,450 to her political action committee over eight years but that an Associated Press investigation showed that Tiller and his abortion clinic made additional contributions to the PAC in later years (BNA, 4/22).

Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said he will encourage a swift confirmation vote from the full Senate, despite possible GOP efforts to block the vote. Baucus said he will "push for immediate action" so Sebelius "can finally roll up her sleeves and get down to helping out on this critical work of reforming the health care system." Health care advocates also praised the results of the committee vote, the Washington Times reports. Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, said, "There's no governor in the country who knows as much about health care as she does."

Conservative and Christian groups have criticized Sebelius' nomination because of her support for abortion rights. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said the divided committee vote "reflects growing grassroots opposition" to the nomination (Washington Times, 4/22).

Full Senate Confirmation Expected

According to the Los Angeles Times, the full Senate likely will vote on the nomination sometime next week (Los Angeles Times, 4/22). In addition to Roberts' support, Sebelius also has the backing of her other home-state Republican senator, Sam Brownback, and she is expected to be confirmed (Roll Call, 4/22).

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