Senate expected to confirm Kathleen Sebelius for HHS Secretary today

[BirminghamExaminer]

Excerpt:

Kathleen Sebelius, picked to be Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services is expected to be confirmed today in the Senate.

Her nomination has been blocked by some Republicans which has cost the nation at a time when it is facing a public health emergency.

(snip)

Sebelius has long been considered an ideal candidate for the job of HHS secretary but has been the victim of the new obstructionist faction of the Republican party that also blocked Tammy Duckworth's nomination as Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Duckworth, a double amputee is an Iraq war veteran and was finally confirmed after relentless attempts to block her nomination by North Carolina Senator Richard Burr (R).

It was never clear why Duckworth's nomination was blocked by GOP members led by Senator Burr.

The reasons cited for blocking Sebelius as HHS secretary has ostensibly been because of a donation she received during her campaign for governor of Kansas. The donation was from a physician who is pro-choice. GOP members in Congress cited the donation as the reason they were delaying her confirmation. The delay has posed problems at a time when the United States is facing a public health emergency. Blocking her nomination has left the U.S. without a strong Department of Health and Human Services. Instead, the nation has had to rely on Janet Napolitano, as Secretary of Homeland Security to handle the crisis.

See entire story here.