Kathleen Sebelius

When Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius this week vetoed another in the seemingly unending series of restrictive abortion bills her state's Legislature churns out, it guaranteed that her confirmation as secretary of Health and Human Services would become a battleground in the increasingly nasty campaign being waged against officeholders who are both Catholic and Democratic. Politics in Kansas has long been poisoned by extremism on both sides of the abortion question.

Prodded by an ultraconservative Catholic group, the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., has criticized Friday's scheduled speech at Georgetown University by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. Although Sebelius favors abortion rights, the "sin" that incurred the archdiocese's displeasure was the Obama administration's proposed rule requiring insurance coverage for contraception for employees of religious hospitals and educational institutions. Because Sebelius' actions "present the most direct challenge to religious liberty in recent history," the archdiocese suggested, students at the Jesuit-affiliated university shouldn't be able to hear her speak at an awards ceremony for its Public Policy Institute.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius won the endorsement of a divided Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, probably clearing the way for her confirmation as President Obama's secretary of Health and Human Services. But eight of the 10 Republicans on the panel voted against her, underscoring the increasingly partisan nature of the emerging healthcare debate on Capitol Hill. Among the dissenters was Iowa Sen. Charles E.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius visited a health clinic in downtown Los Angeles on Monday and announced more than $9 million in funding to help medical students repay school loans if they agree to work in underserved areas. Sebelius said the program will encourage more students to pursue careers in family medicine and will help relieve a shortage of primary care doctors. "Most Americans who live in underserved areas don't have access to basic care," she said during the visit to Eisner Pediatric and Family Medical Center.

There's good and bad news when it comes to American obesity, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday at an event addressing the nation's increasingly costly and deadly weight problem.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, President Obama's choice to head the Department of Health and Human Services, did not pay $7,040 in income taxes that she and her husband owed between 2005 and 2007, the White House disclosed Tuesday in another tax-related embarrassment for the new administration.

The following is the full transcript of President Obama's remarks in Osawatomie, Kan., Tuesday as provided by the White House. THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I want to start by thanking a few folks who've joined us today.  We've got the mayor of Osawatomie, Phil Dudley is here.  (Applause.)  We have your superintendent Gary French in the house.  (Applause.)  And we have the principal of Osawatomie High, Doug Chisam.  (Applause.)  And I have brought your former governor, who is doing now an outstanding job as Secretary of Health and Human Services -- Kathleen Sebelius is in the house.  (Applause.)

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has been chosen to deliver the Democratic response to President Bush's annual State of the Union address on Jan. 28.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius was near the top of President Obama's list of candidates to head the Health and Human Services Department, a senior administration official said. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity while discussing administration deliberations, said the Democratic former Kansas insurance commissioner was rising on Obama's list of prospective candidates. The president's first choice for the job, former Sen. Tom Daschle, withdrew his name after admitting he had not paid taxes on a car and driver since leaving Congress.

Kathleen Sebelius won Senate confirmation Tuesday as the nation's Health and Human Services secretary, thrusting the former Kansas governor into the middle of the public health emergency involving swine flu. The 65-31 vote came after Democrats urged quick action so that Sebelius could get to work leading the federal response to the flu outbreak. "We find ourselves in the midst of a global crisis," Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) said.

The following is the full transcript of President Obama's remarks in Osawatomie, Kan., Tuesday as provided by the White House. THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I want to start by thanking a few folks who've joined us today.  We've got the mayor of Osawatomie, Phil Dudley is here.  (Applause.)  We have your superintendent Gary French in the house.  (Applause.)  And we have the principal of Osawatomie High, Doug Chisam.  (Applause.)  And I have brought your former governor, who is doing now an outstanding job as Secretary of Health and Human Services -- Kathleen Sebelius is in the house.  (Applause.)

Karl Rove, architect of George W. Bush's presidential victories, is steeped in the business of political fundraising. He co-founded one of the major "super-PACs," American Crossroads, which will try to cut into President Obama's fundraising advantage in the 2012 election. For Rove, the Obama campaign is both a target and a rival - and he doesn't like one of the methods it is using to raise campaign money. Making full use of the power of incumbency, the Obama campaign has set up a "speaker series" in which people pay $5,000 to hear closed-door speeches delivered by administration officials, White House alumni -- even celebrities who are partial to Obama.

Facing a brewing revolt among states wrestling with massive budget shortfalls and tattering healthcare safety nets, the Obama administration is intensifying a drive to help state leaders find ways to wring savings from their Medicaid programs. Thursday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sent a letter to the nation's 50 governors suggesting a range of cuts they can make to Medicaid, including dropping some people from the program. "I know you are struggling to balance your budget while still providing critical healthcare services to those who need it most," Sebelius told governors in the letter.

At least for one day, the students at Fremont Elementary School in Long Beach could be heard chanting, "Salad! Salad! Salad!" before lunch Tuesday. Maybe it helped that they had an audience, including their principal, the Long Beach mayor, a congresswoman, a county supervisor and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. And maybe it helps that teachers and food services staff, parents and a volunteer chef had all worked to put the salad bar in place and will help keep it going.

TODAY Good Morning America Kathryn Bigelow, Gabourey Sidibe and Maggie Gyllenhaal. (N) 7 a.m. KABC The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer Healthcare: Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.); Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.). Iraq: Tom Ricks, the Washington Post. 3 p.m. CNN McLaughlin Group (N) 6:30 p.m. KCET SUNDAY CBS News Sunday Morning Sean Penn discusses his effort to help Haiti; Neil Gaiman. (N) 6 a.m. KCBS Today James Van Der Beek ("Mercy")

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told the nation's leading health insurers Thursday to justify publicly a spate of double-digit premium hikes that have infuriated consumers in at least half a dozen states. Meeting at the White House with the chief executives of WellPoint Inc., Aetna, Cigna and UnitedHealth Group as well as several state insurance commissioners, Sebelius asked the companies to post online their justification for proposed rate hikes primarily affecting customers who directly purchase their own coverage.

Karl Rove, architect of George W. Bush's presidential victories, is steeped in the business of political fundraising. He co-founded one of the major "super-PACs," American Crossroads, which will try to cut into President Obama's fundraising advantage in the 2012 election. For Rove, the Obama campaign is both a target and a rival - and he doesn't like one of the methods it is using to raise campaign money. Making full use of the power of incumbency, the Obama campaign has set up a "speaker series" in which people pay $5,000 to hear closed-door speeches delivered by administration officials, White House alumni -- even celebrities who are partial to Obama.

California insurance regulators asked Anthem Blue Cross to delay controversial rate increases of as much as 39% for individual policies, hikes that have triggered widespread criticism from subscribers and brokers -- and now from the federal government. In a rare step, the Obama administration called on California's largest for-profit insurer to justify its rate hikes, saying the increases were alarming at a time when subscribers face skyrocketing healthcare costs. In a letter to Anthem's president, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius voiced serious concern over the higher premiums, which go into effect March 1 for many of the insurer's estimated 800,000 individual policyholders.

Community activists called Monday for a federal monitor to investigate Los Angeles County's Department of Children and Family Services. From January 2008 to early August 2009, at least 268 children who had passed through the child welfare system died -- many of them violently -- The Times reported Sunday. "The long-standing abuses within the agency have been well-documented and the proposed reform efforts of county officials have not stopped the abuses or deaths," the activists wrote in a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Director Kathleen Sebelius, who oversees the distribution of federal money to the county agency.