Obama Taps Tom Daschle For Cabinet Post

Sources Say Former Senate Majority Leader Accepts Post As Secretary Of Health And Human Services

(CBS/AP)  Democratic officials say former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle has accepted President-elect Barack Obama's offer to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Democratic officials on Capitol Hill and close to the transition also confirm the selection to CBS News.

The appointment has not been announced, but these officials say the job is Daschle's barring an unforeseen problem as Mr. Obama's team reviews the background of the South Dakota Democrat. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorize to discuss the matter publicly.

One area of review will include the lobbying connections of his wife, Linda Hall Daschle, who has done representation mostly on behalf of airline-related companies over the years. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorize to discuss the matter publicly.

Daschle, a close adviser to Mr. Obama throughout his White House campaign, recently wrote a book on his proposals to improve health care, and he is working with former Senate leaders on recommendations to improve the system.

"Daschle was an early and prominent supporter of the president-elect and is very likely to play a role in his administration," said CBSNews.com senior political editor Vaughn Ververs. "As someone deeply familiar with the inner workings of Congress, Daschle could be very effective in helping shepherd through health care reform, one of the incoming president’s priorities."

Organizations seeking to expand health coverage were quick to praise the selection.

"Sen. Daschle has a deep commitment to securing high-quality, affordable health care for everyone in our nation," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA. "His new leadership position confirms that the incoming Obama administration has made health care reform a top and early priority for action in 2009."

After losing re-election to the Senate in 2004, Daschle became a public policy adviser and member of the legislative and public policy group at the law and lobbying firm Alston & Bird. Daschle isn't registered as a lobbyist. He advises clients on issues including health care, financial services and taxes and trade, according to the firm Web site.

Health care interests, including CVS Caremark, the National Association for Home Care and Hospice, Abbott Laboratories and HealthSouth, are among the firm's lobbying clients.

His wife was acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration in the Clinton administration. She is one of Washington's top lobbyists. Her lobbying clients over the past year included American Airlines, Lockheed Martin and Boeing, Senate lobbying records show.

Daschle is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think-tank run by top Obama transition adviser and former Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta. According to his center biography, Daschle serves on the advisory boards of Intermedia Partners and the BP America Inc. external advisory council, and on the boards of CB Richard Ellis, Mascoma Corp., Prime BioSolutions, The Freedom Forum, the Mayo Clinic, the Center for American Progress, the LBJ Foundation, and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. He is also a member of the Council of Foreign Relations.

Daschle's strong Capitol Hill ties and knowledge of how HHS works mean "it is a perfect appointment," said former Republican Congressman John Porter, who chairs the medical research advocacy group Research!America. "He'll do an outstanding job."

Besides health reform, the next HHS secretary will deal with the growing budgetary woes of some of the nation's critical health agencies.

One example: Years of funding that didn't keep up with inflation means the National Institutes of Health has lost 14 percent of its buying power, said Dr. Harold Varmus, NIH's former director and a science adviser to Obama's campaign. That has left promising disease research without money to move forward.

Mr. Obama also announced several transition working group leaders, including Daschle, who will oversee the health policy working group. They include former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Carol Browner on energy and environment and former Clinton White House adviser Jim Steinberg and Obama campaign senior foreign policy adviser Susan Rice on national security.

[hitoyou1]

Someone else who knows nothing. Obama is getting all the NO BODies AROUND HIM. A nodoby with a lot of nobodies around him. No one to let everyone know how DUMB he is.

[drpolitics1]

What has Tom Daschle done for his own state? South Dakota has a high crime rate and he does not help the Indians that live there. How can he help our Social Security Administration and improve it? We need to stop just letting these appointments be approved simply because he supported Obama. We need to find out how these people handle their own states and jobs. In addition, I recall he was a rascal at the Clarence Thomas hearings. He and Biden sat there and ridiculed Clarence Thomas like it was a sideshow at the circus. I really think Obama should reconsider him for this appointment.

[solothruhike]

Obama has to hire insiders or else he won''t be able to get anything done. Hopefully he will select good insiders. As for Daschle, I wonder if he ever went home to South Dakota after he left office. Or is he like Delay and Lott now, a permanent Virginian.

[renojmc]

You fools that fell for the "Change" mantra. It''s the same old, same old. Gee, what else is Obama not honest about?

[liberty4you]

I am really surprised that Barack has chosen so many Washintonians that frankly, makes me sad.

I really hoped he would have distanced himself from Washington. But I hope he will pull all the right people together and then fire them all at once. It''s our only hope.

My vote is for Patrick Fitzgerald for Attorney General,

Not the pardoner of Marc Rich-who was also protected by Scooter Libby. Fitzgerald put the smac down on Libby and Bush pardoned him.

We can thank Jack Straw.

[gagnermc]

Please take a break here give Obama a BREAK! HE IS NOT EVEN PRES YET& YOU ARE RIPPING ON HIM!!!& FURTHER MORE I HOPE& PRAY THAT HE CAN FIX THIS MESS WE ARE IN!! AS FAR AS 8 YEARS OF THE BUSH ADMIN... WHEN CLINTON WAS PRESIDENT WE HAD JOBS, MONEY IN OUR POCKETS(BLUE COLLARS) & HE CLEANED UP OUR DEF, AS FAR AS OBAMA I REALLY FEEL FOR HIM ;BECAUSE HE IS A FIRST CLASS MAN& SINCERE & HIGHLY EDUCATED PERSON IT IS TOO BAD HE IS GOING TO BE LEFT WITH SUCH A MESS TO TRY TO CLEAN UP! MAY GOD BE WITH HIM!

[jedi232]

All the new faces and change so far. This is almost too much to handle LAMO: Obama your a joke and a Liar.

Can''t wait to you put Hillary in charge so we can have the exact same whitehouse as we did in the 90''s.

[cg37102006]

Obama is putting people in place who are going to be able to put through the changes that he promised during the campaign. His is getting people who can do the job. You would rather he bring in a bunch of rookies like Bush did from Texas? Look how that worked out for America. Obama, as predicted, is making smart decisions for his picks. That in and of itself is change enough from the previous regime.

[nolalou]

Isn''''t it nice that Obama is trying to recyle worn out goods.

Posted by downsteamjim

And if he picked someone you never heard of, you''d complain they had no experience! There is no pleasing you whiners, you complain before he''s even taken office! Franky, you can go sc--w yourself! I''ve had it with you losers!

[iawildcats72]

What expertise does Tom Daschle have that qualifies him to be Secretary of Health and Human Services? Let''s see, he was in the United States Air Force, where he served as an intelligence officer in the Strategic Air Command. While as a Senator, he acted as the coordinator of the failed effort to pass President Bill Clinton''s comprehensive health-care bill in 1994. Daschle is a Obama supporter since Obama arrived in Capitol Hill, oh, I see, maybe this qualifies him to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. I sure haven''t found any info on him having any skill or degree in the field of medicine or human services, which, I think would be very, very important and useful.

[downsteamjim]

Isn''t it nice that Obama is trying to recyle worn out goods.

[thuderstone]

well done, you go Tom!

[wardoglrs]

Tom Daschle''s wife is a lobbiest as most of his administration is..Obama voters dont even know who the hell these people are he is putting in powerful positions.

Obama supporters *** were you thinking? most if not all of Obamas'' administration are the very same people in the bush/Clinton error they are Lobbiest so your change is for the worst and i cant understand why you would support him for voting yes on the Bail out and yes on the FISA bill

You uninformed fools have cut the throats of our founders and you should be ashamed for what you could of had.

You need to get informed on who''s who. The house of cards "The USA" is built on counterfeit money your in a trap planned by the Federal Reserve which is a private corp owned by the Jew''s to dismantle your constitution
This man is playing you out like the uninformed fools you are

[mikezembill]

Hitou1 say it Obama it will just roll of your toung now try it one more time OBAMA now how was that if you are a republican it may be a little harder but you will get use to it.

[mikezembill]

Most people just dont have the good jobs that the autoworkers have all they have is a little pissy job that pays nothing so they do not like the uaw.

[hitoyou1]

I am already tired of hearing about Obama. The guy is a no body, he will always be a no body. Why don''t the press stop with the Obama B.S. They got him in office with there lies about every body else, so we have him, and in 4 years we can out hikm back where he came from, the out house. Reading FDR, things are not the same, if they where Obama would not be in the White House.

[odinnasgaard]

Ye go ahead and tell a Muslim, that his god is our god, one in the same.

Or did you mean originally that God meaning (Obama) was helping us?

Posted by CPelzar at 02:45 PM : Nov 19, 2008

Actually, they do agree that Allah (the Arabic word for God) is the same god of Abraham that the Jews and Christians worship.

[kansas1946]

We have already seen huge changes in the works compared to the Bush administration, and that is the cange we wanted. Anything but Bush''s failed policies. You folks that are parroting Rush need to think for yourselves. Rush has not got a brain cell in his head that isn''t compromised by drugs and arrogance.

[kansas1946]

Probably a good choice. It''s going to be an interesting four years.

[donlb-2009]

Congratulations to President-elect Obama. Former Sen. Tom Daschle is an excellent choice for Sec. of Health and Human Services.