Sebelius Sworn in as HHS Chief After Winning Senate Confirmation

On Tuesday, President Obama swore in Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) as HHS secretary after the Senate voted 65-31 to approve her nomination, Politico reports (Kady, Politico, 4/28).

Obama said, "We wanted to swear her in right away because we've got a lot of health challenges," adding, "We need all hands on deck. I expect her to hit the ground running. She is the right person at the right time for the job" (Goldstein, Wichita Eagle, 4/29).

The vote was largely along party lines, with nine Republicans voting to confirm Sebelius (Lengell, Washington Times, 4/29).

Sebelius was the last member of Obama's Cabinet to be confirmed and sworn in (Brady, Roll Call, 4/28).

Added Urgency

Although Senate Republicans had attempted to delay Sebelius' confirmation because of concerns about her stance on abortion, they opted not to continue procedural objections in light of the recent swine flu emergency (Kamen, Washington Post, 4/29).

Following Sebelius' swearing-in ceremony, she received a swine flu emergency briefing in the White House Situation Room by John Brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security (Wichita Eagle, 4/29).

Although Sebelius' first focus as HHS secretary will be on the swine flu emergency, her larger task will be helping to pass an overhaul of the U.S. health care system, according to the AP/Kansas City Star (Werner, AP/Kansas City Star, 4/29).

Senate leaders, with whom Sebelius will be working, will begin drafting guidelines Wednesday on how to overhaul the U.S. health care system (Adamy, Wall Street Journal, 4/28).

More Positions To Fill

Of the 20 positions at HHS that require Senate confirmation, Obama has named nominees for five of them, the New York Times reports. However, Sebelius is the only one who has been confirmed (Pear, New York Times, 4/29).