William V. Corr
Deputy Health and Human Services Secretary (since May 2009)
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(Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids)
As the number-two at the Department of Health and Human Services, Corr oversees a vast swath of the federal government and plays a key role in shaping the Obama administration's efforts to modernize and expand health coverage.
The department, with 65,000 employees, administers 300 programs. Under the HHS umbrella are powerful entities including the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The HHS budget for fiscal year 2008, $707 billion, represents nearly a quarter of the entire federal budget, much of the money going to benefits for low-income, disabled or retired Americans.
- Career History: Executive director, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (2000 to 2009); Chief counsel and policy director, Sen. Thomas A. Daschle (1998 to 2000); Chief of staff to HHS Secretary Donna Shalala (1996 to 1998)
- Hometown: Birmingham, Ala.
- Alma Mater: University of Virginia, B.A.; Vanderbilt University, J.D.
- Spouse: Susan Steinmetz
- Web site
Corr was born in Selma, Ala., and raised in Birmingham with his three siblings "during the height of the civil rights movement," as he has described it.
After earning his undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia and a law degree at Vanderbilt University, the low-key Corr began his public service career in the poverty-stricken region of Appalachia.
Across a long career on Capitol Hill, Corr has been a top legal adviser to some of the most influential, most liberal Democrats in Congress. Health policy, particularly the use of regulation in the medical arena, has been a recurring theme in his career.
Corr's understanding of the complexities of Congress should prove useful as the Obama administration undertakes the daunting task of re-imagining the nation's health-care system and potentially addressing the long-term insolvency of the Medicare program.
After three decades in Washington, Corr has an extensive network of allies in the administration, on Capitol Hill and in the health-policy world.
Most importantly, he is a member of Daschle's inner circle. He joins other Daschle allies, including Jeanne Lambrew, who kept their HHS jobs even after the former senator withdrew from consideration to run that department.
Corr has been a reliable Democratic donor during the last several election cycles.
He contributed $1,500 to Daschle's 2004 unsuccessful re-election campaign and $1,000 to Sen. John F. Kerry's (D-Mass.) presidential campaign that year.
- Center for Responsive Politics, opensecrets.org
- Pianin, Eric, "Federal Tobacco Lawsuit Is Targeted; Lawmakers Try to Cut Off Source of Funds for Justice Dept. Effort Against Industry," The Washington Post, June 9, 2000
- Questionnaire submitted by William V. Corr
- "HHS Compiling List Of Candidates To Head FDA," Reuters Health Medical News, April 8, 1997
- Obama press release
- Lobbying database of the Center for Responsive Politics
- Department of Health and Human Services official Web site
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