Apr 28, 2009 9:36 pm US/Central
Senate Confirms Sebelius As Health Secretary
WASHINGTON (CBS) ―
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Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee during her confirmation hearing to be secretary of Health and Human Services on Captiol Hill March 31, 2009 in Washington.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
President Obama has his final Cabinet pick: The Senate has confirmed Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as Health And Human Services secretary.
Sebelius does not have time to ease into the job, as she now becomes the administration's point person in dealing with the swine flu outbreak. The HHS secretary will also spearhead the administration's effort to reform health care, one of the president's primary goals.
The Associated Press reports that the 65-31 vote came as Democrats pushed for the confirmation as soon as possible so that Sebelius could get to work addressing swine flu.
Some Republicans objected to Sebelius' nomination because she is pro-choice and because of how they expect her to overhaul health care. She only received five more votes than the 60 needed for confirmation.
President Obama's first pick for the post, Former Sen. Tom Daschle, withdrew amidst controversy concerning his taxes
Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson, wooed from the Republican Party three years ago by Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to become her running mate, became Kansas governor Tuesday after Sebelius resigned upon her confirmation.
Parkinson, a 51-year-old former Republican legislator and party chairman, has said previously he did not expect to make major policy or staff changes, and that he won't run for a full four-year term next year.
Fixing the budget will be Parkinson's most pressing task as the state's 45th governor. He and legislators, who return Wednesday from a break, must eliminate a projected $328 million deficit in the budget previously approved for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Many Republicans, particularly the leaders who control majorities in the House and Senate, view Parkinson as more approachable than Sebelius. Many legislators also wonder whether he'll inspire as much loyalty among fellow Democrats as she did.
Sebelius, 60, a former state insurance commissioner and state legislator, won her first gubernatorial election in 2002. She positioned herself as a centrist and successfully wooed moderate Republican voters, gaining national attention as she won two terms in a GOP-leaning state.
Parkinson is largely unknown outside Kansas. He's best known for his high-profile party switch, which left even some Democrats wary.
Parkinson served two years in the House and four in the Senate as a Republican in the 1990s, then left politics to start a nursing home company.
He served as state GOP chairman in 1999-2003, and during the 2002 campaign derided Sebelius' pick of a former Republican for a running mate as a gimmick.
Parkinson later became a Democrat at Sebelius' urging and joined her re-election ticket in 2006; he said he had been wrong about the governor.
GOP legislators were waiting to see how Parkinson would deal with the state's budget problems. Sebelius has tried to avoid cuts in education funding and advocated suspending some planned tax breaks, tapping gambling dollars and diverting funds from cities and counties to boost state revenues.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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