HHS Secretary Considers Return to Private Sector Next Year
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson on Aug. 23 said that "he is not committed" to his position past February 2003 and has considered offers to return to the private sector, the Chicago Tribune reports. Thompson said that before he became HHS secretary, he told President Bush that he would serve two years in the position. "I certainly will comply with that. If he wants me to stay after the election, we'll sit down and talk," Thompson said. He said that he has received offers from the private sector but did not discuss the details of the offers. Thompson spokesperson Tony Jewel said that "Thompson's comments were only meant to show people" in Wisconsin, where Thompson served as governor for 14 years, that "he misses them." Jewel added, "Secretary Thompson doesn't have plans to go anywhere and he's not looking to go anywhere. He very much enjoys his job here at HHS." Some observers have predicted that Thompson, who has "run afoul" of conservatives for his support of embryonic stem cell research, would become the first Cabinet member to leave the Bush administration (Chicago Tribune, 8/25).
McClellan to Head FDA?
In other administration news, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Dr. Mark McClellan, who has served for the past year on the president's Council of Economic Advisors, has become the "front-runner" for the FDA commissioner nomination. McClellan, a Stanford University physician and a health care economist, has advised the White House on health care policy and helped draft Bush's Medicare reform proposal. According to analysts, McClellan, considered an "apolitical compromiser who can bridge party lines," has become Bush's likely selection for the FDA position, which requires Senate confirmation, as a result of his "growing political prowess and background in health care economics." Bush also has considered Lester Crawford, deputy commissioner of the FDA, for the position. The FDA has not had a commissioner since Bush took office in January 2001 (Keefe, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 8/25).
