Observers Speculate on Whom Obama Might Nominate as HHS Secretary, Director of White House Office of Health Reform

According to observers, possible replacements for Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) -- who withdrew his nomination as HHS secretary and resigned as director of the White House Office of Health Reform on Monday -- could include Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D), Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D), Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D), former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D), or former Democratic National Committee Chair and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D), the Wall Street Journal's "Health Blog" reports (Rubenstein, "Health Blog," Wall Street Journal, 2/4).

CIA Director Leon Panetta, who served as director of the White House Office of Management and Budget under former President Bill Clinton, also is a possible replacement (Stein, "SpyTalk," CQ Politics, 2/4). In addition, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D), who implemented the state's health insurance law and has addressed unexpected problems with the law, is a possible replacement (Rhee, "Political Intelligence," Boston Globe, 2/4). Observers also have mentioned former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), who drafted the Massachusetts health insurance law, as a possible replacement (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 2/4).

None of the potential nominees have the "political influence and health care expertise" of Daschle, Bloomberg/Long Island Newsday reports. In addition, "Daschle's decision may force" President Obama to "split the jobs" of HHS secretary and director of the White House Office of Health Reform and "sets back plans to find a new chief" at FDA, as "criticism mounts about its ability to police drugmakers, food processors and importers," according to Bloomberg/Newsday (Bloomberg/Long Island Newsday, 2/5).

As the next nominee for HHS secretary likely "won't lead the new health reform office that Daschle was also slated to oversee," Jeanne Lambrew, who co-authored a book on health care reform with Daschle and currently serves as deputy director of the office, "might get the nod for the job," according to the Journal's "Health Blog" ("Health Blog," Wall Street Journal, 2/4).

Future of Health Care Reform Efforts
Daschle stepping down "is likely to delay for months the momentum for an overhaul of the U.S. health care system," Bloomberg/Newsday reports (Bloomberg/Long Island Newsday, 2/5). According to the Christian Science Monitor, the "loss of Daschle's expertise on the health care system and his knowledge of Capitol Hill was seen as a blow to the administration as it embarks on health care reform" (Feldmann et al., Christian Science Monitor, 2/5).

Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, said, "This takes the Obama administration off their game because health reform is all built around Daschle," adding, "It creates some real problems, and they're going to have to regroup on this."

Robert Laszewski, a policy analyst and former health insurance executive, said, "It's going to take a couple of months to straighten this out," adding, "Then you've lost the momentum going into the summer" (Bloomberg/Long Island Newsday, 2/5).

According to Robert Blendon, a health care policy expert at Harvard University, the decision by Daschle to withdraw his nomination as HHS secretary will cause a "bump in the road" for health care reform (Christian Science Monitor, 2/5).

However, Stephen Ubl, president and CEO of the Advanced Medical Technology Association, said, "I wouldn't expect it to significantly affect the prospects for health care reform," adding, "The president has articulated his vision and made some key appointments aside from the Daschle nomination" (Bloomberg/Long Island Newsday, 2/5).

Opinion Pieces

• David Broder, Washington Post: The "Daschle fiasco is the worst embarrassment Obama has suffered since winning the election," as "Daschle was no ordinary appointee and HHS is no ordinary job," Post columnist Broder writes. According to Broder, "Daschle's withdrawal not only costs the administration and the country his skilled services, it leaves Obama and the administration with egg on their faces" (Broder, Washington Post, 2/5).
  
  
• Froma Harrop, Providence Journal: The decision by Daschle to withdraw his nomination as HHS secretary "had to happen" -- despite his "smarts on reforming health care" -- because of his tax issues, "infuriating sense of entitlement" and "eagerness to make big money off the people he would regulate," syndicated columnist Harrop writes. According to Harrop, in the event that Daschle had drafted health care reform legislation, those issues would have raised questions about whether "we trust an author so keen to make money from corporate interests." She writes, "No one expects the Obama administration to be as clean as the candidate vowed," but "if Daschle sailed through, then the political capital that promise held would have vanished," adding, "Meanwhile, others can do the job" (Harrop, Providence Journal, 2/5).
  
  
• Joe Klein, Time Magazine: In the event that Daschle did not withdraw his nomination as HHS secretary, "Obama would have had to push" him to leave because of a number of issues, Time columnist Klein writes. In addition to his tax issues, Daschle "had given speeches worth $200,000 to health care industry groups that he would have had to regulate" as HHS secretary and "made $5 million in two years, 'advising' various businesses and organizations rather than formally 'lobbying' for them, a cheesy distinction that almost made it worse," Klein writes. He adds, "A guy like Daschle, who knows the system cold, who could talk to both the insurance companies and the liberal advocates, would have been invaluable to Obama in bringing health insurance to everyone who needs it," but "as the man said, we're all going to have to sacrifice, and it now seems clear that Obama's sacrifice, if he wants to reattach Washington to a nation sick with cynicism about its government, will be to detach himself from the lobbyist elites who might have helped grease the skids for his policy goals" (Klein, Time Magazine, 2/4).
  
  
• Karen Tumulty, Time Magazine: Obama, as he seeks to find a replacement for Daschle, will have to ask "whether anyone can replace Daschle when it comes to the harder task of keeping on track President Obama's drive this year to overhaul the health care system and expand coverage to the 47 million Americans who now lack it," Time columnist Tumulty writes. According to Tumulty, "probably more important" than who Obama names as the next nominee for HHS secretary is who he names as director of the White House Office of Health Reform. The office "was where Daschle's expertise and clout would have mattered the most," and although "his former deputy Jeanne Lambrew is widely respected for her policy knowledge, no one still there has Daschle's savvy and connections for shepherding legislation through the Senate," Tumulty writes (Tumulty, Time Magazine, 2/4).

Broadcast Coverage
NPR's "All Things Considered" on Wednesday included comments from Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) about the effect that the decision by Daschle to withdraw his nomination as HHS secretary will have on health care reform efforts ("All Things Considered," NPR, 2/4). In addition, NPR's "All Things Considered" on Wednesday included a commentary by Daniel Schorr of NPR about how the Daschle case highlights ties between government and lobbyists (Schorr, "All Things Considered," NPR, 2/4).

NPR's "Day to Day" on Wednesday examined whether the decision by Daschle to withdraw his nomination as HHS secretary will affect health care reform efforts ("Day to Day," NPR, 2/4).