Tom Daschle accepts Obama offer to lead Health and Human Services
Daschle, a former Senate majority leader, would head the agency that will handle the incoming administration's efforts to expand health insurance coverage, a Democratic source says.
Ron Edmonds / Associated Press
Reporting from Washington — President-elect Barack Obama has asked former Sen. Tom Daschle to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services, and the South Dakota Democrat has accepted the offer.
Daschle, if confirmed, would head the agency that will handle the new administration's signature initiative to expand health insurance coverage, a Democrat familiar with the process said.
The source said that Obama was expected to officially name Daschle and other Cabinet nominees early next week, although that timetable may be accelerated.
Daschle, who this year published a book on the healthcare system, was an early supporter of Obama's bid for the presidency. Obama's campaign and transition teams have been heavily staffed by former Daschle aides.
Daschle won election to the Senate in 1986 after eight years in the House of Representatives. He was Senate majority leader in 2001-03 while Democrats controlled the chamber. But he was defeated in his 2004 bid for reelection after Republicans ran a bitter campaign targeting him as a national Democrat out of step with his home state.
But Daschle remains popular among his former colleagues and would be likely to face little challenge to his qualifications and character. However, Daschle had expressed some concern about going through the confirmation process because of questions likely to be raised about his wife, who is a registered lobbyist.
Hook and Levey are writers in our Washington bureau.
janet.hook@latimes.com
noam.levey@latimes.com
