Former Sen. Tom Daschle Vows Bold Reforms As Health Secretary In First Hearing For Obama Cabinet

January 9, 2009 7:23 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The first confirmation hearing for the Cabinet of President-elect Barack Obama had no tough questions, but former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle pledged bipartisan healthcare reforms as secretary of Health and Human Services.

Before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday, Daschle said, "We have serious cost problems now. If we fail to address the issue of cost, that the situation will double just in the next 10 years alone...I want to reinstate a science-driven environment. I want to take ideology, politics, as much as humanly possible, out of the process and leave the scientists to do their job."

Committee chair, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), said in his opening remarks, "Tom Daschle is a leader of great integrity and strong dedication. He has served his nation with distinction, both in uniform and in the Senate. I commend President-elect Obama for selecting such an extraordinary nominee to lead the nation's health care agenda. Reform is urgently needed and Tom Daschle is just the person for the job."

Despite the heavy task of overhauling an increasingly problematic healthcare system that had resisted an ambitious reform effort from former President Bill Clinton, the hearing was amicable. The Boston Globe called it "more of a homecoming than a congressional grilling," while the New York Times said it was "a love-fest as senators from both parties expressed admiration for their former Senate colleague."

The only notable kind of "grilling" that may be considered was when the ranking minority committee member, Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY), asked if Republicans would have a role in crafting legislation reform in a Congress and Cabinet ruled by Democrats. Daschle indicated that he would reach across the aisle and seek bipartisan solutions.

Daschle, who served as national co-chair of the Obama campaign, called for the creation of an independent agency modeled after the Federal Reserve that will oversee the nation's healthcare system, in a book published last year entitled, "Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis."

He was also appointed White House Office of Health Reform by Obama. He also said in his opening statement he would "use these dual roles to marshal the talent and energy necessary to at last succeed in making healthcare affordable and accessible for all Americans." He added, "Healthcare is personal to me."

Daschle still has to face the Senate Finance Committee this month before his the full Senate votes on his nomination, which is expected to be confirmed.

Kennedy's committee will hold another confirmation hearing on Friday, for Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA) as Labor secretary.

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), who has yet to officially resign from the Senate, will face the Foreign Relations Committee and its chair, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), next Tuesday. The former first lady's nomination as the third woman secretary of State is not expected to face opposition.

The same day, hearings will be held for physicist and Nobel laureate Steven Chu as Energy secretary, Chicago Schools Chief Arne Duncan as Education secretary, and former New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection chief Lisa Jackson, as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Congressional Budget Office director Peter Orszag will sit before senators about his nomination as head of the Office of Management of Budget.

After Clinton, much of the attention will be devoted to Eric Holder, Obama's choice for attorney general. The Judiciary Committee holds his hearing next Thursday at 9:30 am ET.

Holder's confirmation hearing was originally scheduled to start this wek, the same day as Daschle's. But Republican concerns about his approval of the controversial presidential pardon of fugitive and Democratic contributor Marc Rich eight years ago had forced committee chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to delay his hearing.

As deputy attorney general, Holder approved former President Bill Clinton's 2001 pardon of Rich, a commodities trader convicted of 65 counts of tax evasion and illegal arms deals with Iran during the hostage crisis.

The 57-year-old Holder, who was one of three members of Obama's vice presidential search committee and the president-elect's former campaign legal adviser, has repeatedly expressed regret over his participation in the pardon.

Other confirmation hearings will be held next Thursday for New York Federal Reserve Bank president Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as secretary of Homeland Security, former Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar as Interior Secretary, and Susan Rice as ambassador to the U.N.

No dates have been announced for other appointees. Much awaited is the hearing for Leon Pannetta as CIA director.

The recent appointment of Panetta, who was chief of staff to former President Bill Clinton, has triggered a firestorm of criticisms, including from Democrats, that he is not qualified for the post. Obama has had to defend his choice and apologize to the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), for failing to consult her about the nomination.