The Senate Finance Committee voted 15-8 in favor of Kathleen Sebelius for Health and Human Services secretary, clearing the way to complete President Barack Obama’s Cabinet. Sebelius’ nomination now goes to the full Senate for a vote, the date of which hasn’t yet been announced. Sebelius had a confirmation hearing before the Finance Committee two weeks ago, but Republicans wary with her stances on abortion and Obama’s health care reforms delayed a vote on her nomination until after Congress returned from a two-week recess. Republican senators Pat Roberts, from Sebelius’ home state of Kansas, and Maine’s Olympia Snowe voted in…
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NYU professor Paul Light has a good op-ed in today’s New York Times on the interminable Senate confirmation process and how that leads to the growth of unconfirmed “czar” positions: The Senate has done virtually nothing, for example, to address the glacial pace of confirmations that often leads presidents to expand the White House staff as well as the number of appointees who serve without Senate approval. Although he has submitted the names of nominees to the Senate relatively quickly, President Obama will be lucky if the last of his nearly 500 full-time cabinet and subcabinet officers are confirmed by…
After weeks of speculation, it’s official. The White House announced today that Vivek Kundra will be the government’s chief information officer. Kundra has served as the chief technology officer for Washington, D.C. since 2007. In his new role, he will direct governmentwide information technology investments, policy and spending oversight. When a governmentwide chief technology officer is named, they will work together to advance the president’s technology agenda. We’ll have more for you following a news conference with Kundra later today.
My friends in advertising tell me branding is the key to selling anything. If that’s true, then the Obama administration must have some great sales gurus on staff. The president mandated today that all stimulus projects carry the snazzy seal you see below. It seems President Obama wants this emblem to be his seal of approval, showing government’s accountability to taxpayers for the billions being spent on projects to stimulate the economy. Here is what he had to say at the Transportation Department today: These emblems are symbols of our commitment to you, the American people — a commitment to investing your tax…
President Barach Obama will formally annouce Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as his nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services later this afternoon. This marks Obama’s second attempt to appoint a leader for HHS. His previous nominee, former Sen. Tom Daschle, pulled his name from consideration in February after revelations that he’d failed to pay more than $130,000 in back taxes. Daschle was also named as the leader of health care policy for the White House, a role that Sebelius likely won’t hold. The “health care czar” is expected to help lead the White House’s revamping of…
Days before he presents his first budget, President Barack Obama Tuesday night pledged to restore accountability to the budgeting process and cut outdated programs. “This budget looks ahead ten years and accounts for spending that was left out under the old rules — and for the first time, that includes the full cost of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. For seven years, we have been a nation at war. No longer will we hide its price,” Obama told a joint session of Congress. He added that his proposed 2010 budget will would end no-bid contracts in Iraq, as well as…
Mary Wakefield has been named the new administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration. Wakefield is currently the director of the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota. President Barack Obama announced her appointment in a statement Friday. “As a nurse, a Ph.D., and a leading rural healthcare advocate, Mary Wakefield brings expertise that will be instrumental in expanding and improving services for those who are currently uninsured or underserved. Under her leadership we will be able to expand and improve the care provided at the Community Health Centers which serve millions of uninsured Americans and…
President Barack Obama wants a review of the Food and Drug Administration after a massive peanut butter recall for salmonella contamination. In an interview with The Today Show’s Matt Lauer before Sunday’s Super Bowl, Obama said he isn’t happy with FDA’s inspections process. Well, I think that the FDA has not been able to catch some of these things as quickly as I expect them to catch. And so we’re going to be doing a complete review of FDA operations. I don’t want to prejudge this particular case, but there have been enough instances over the last several years –-…
President Obama just named Kathie Ann Whipple to be acting director of the Office of Personnel Management. Whipple, who had been deputy general counsel, will immediately replace Michael Hager, who served as acting OPM director since last August. Whipple thanked Obama for the appointment in a statement issued this morning: I am humbled to have been designated by President Obama to serve as the acting director of OPM, an agency it has been my pleasure to serve for the past eight years. I look forward to leading OPM until the president appoints and the United States Senate confirms the next director.
President Obama has just filled four assistant attorney general slots: David Kris is assistant AG for national security. Tony West is assistant AG for the Justice Department’s civil division. Lanny Breuer is assistant AG for Justice’s criminal division. Christine Varney is assistant AG for the antitrust division. Kris was associate deputy attorney general from 2000 to 2003, where he supervised the government’s use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. But Kris had serious reservations about the Bush administration’s legal justifications for warrantless wiretapping of U.S. citizens and residents, and went public with his concerns three years after leaving Justice.…