Committee OKs Sebelius Over Republican Objections

Posted on Apr 21, 2009

White House / Pete Souza

President Obama presided over his first formal Cabinet meeting Monday with a rather important chair left empty. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Obama’s pick to head the $750 billion Health and Human Services Department and spearhead his ambitious health care reform initiatives, has finally made it out of hearings and should be approved by the end of the week.

Just two of the Senate Finance Committee’s 10 Republicans voted to recommend confirmation, apparently because Sebelius was insufficiently forthcoming about campaign donations from a Kansas abortion doctor.

AP via Google:

Sebelius, 60, would oversee a sprawling agency with 65,000 employees, a $750 billion budget and responsibility for the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Medicare and Medicaid insurance programs for the elderly, disabled and poor — among others.

The committee vote came after several Republicans voiced concerns in recent days about Sebelius’ initial failure to disclose to senators the full extent of campaign donations she got from Dr. George Tiller, a late-term abortion doctor who is under investigation by the Kansas medical board. After the discrepancy became public, Sebelius called it an unintentional oversight and corrected the error.

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