Obama to Nominate Daschle as HHS Secretary

Video

Dem Officials: Daschle Accepts Cabinet Post

Democratic officials say former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle has accepted the role of Health and Human Services secretary in President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet.

» LAUNCH VIDEO PLAYER

Republicans made clear yesterday that Daschle can expect questions at his confirmation hearing about lobbying by his law firm, as well as his wife Linda's work in Washington.

"Barack Obama is filling his administration with longtime Washington insiders," said Alex Conant, spokesman for the Republican National Committee. "For voters hoping to see new faces and fewer lobbyist connections in government, Daschle's nomination will be another disappointment."

Daschle is not a lobbyist, although his firm, Alston & Bird, does have a lobbying arm. He serves on the advisory boards of Intermedia Partners and the BP America external advisory council.

Linda Hall Daschle is a registered federal lobbyist with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, which has many health-care clients. To avoid a potential conflict, she announced yesterday that she will resign and set up her own lobbying shop focused on transportation.

In recent years, Thomas Daschle has become an assiduous student of the U.S. health system, serving on the Board of Trustees of the Mayo Clinic and co-writing the book "Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis." In it, he advocates creating an independent body, modeled after the Federal Reserve Board, to oversee health policy. That idea, and the book, received a hearty endorsement from then-Sen. Obama.

"The American health-care system is in crisis, and workable solutions have been blocked for years by deeply entrenched ideological divisions," Obama wrote at the time. "Sen. Daschle brings fresh thinking to this problem, and his Federal Reserve for Health concept holds great promise for bridging this intellectual chasm and, at long last, giving this nation the health care it deserves."

After Obama's election, rumors swirled that Daschle was a candidate for the job of White House chief of staff, a position that went to Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.). But Daschle's friend Fred Graefe said the health job is a better fit, especially given Obama's interest in the issue.

Being given a portfolio broader than the Cabinet post "is the most important piece of this," said Graefe, a lawyer and lobbyist. "The development and execution of health-care policy is now going to be on the same par as national security policy."

Staff writer Chris Cillizza contributed to this report.