The Senate Finance Committee is set to vote Wednesday on President Obama’s pick to lead the Health and Human Services Department — a job that comes with the political burden of rolling out Obamacare.
Sylvia Mathews Burwell enjoyed bipartisan support during a confirmation hearing before the committee last week.
Mrs. Burwell was confirmed, 96 to 0, to her current job as the White House’s budget chief, but her pending role is colored by the controversy around Mr. Obama’s signature health care law.
She did not face much pushback during a pair of hearings on Capitol Hill, although Sen. David Vitter, Louisiana Republican, said Monday he will oppose her nomination because he is disgusted that lawmakers can keep an employer-based subsidy that pays for up to 75 percent of their health premiums, even though Obamacare requires members of Congress and certain staff to get their health care on the overhaul’s new exchanges.
Current HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced last month she would resign but stay on until her successor had been confirmed.
She is departing a rocky implementation season that required a web-repair effort to turn around HealthCare.gov, a portal that connected consumers of 36 states with private health plans and potential subsidies.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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