Sebelius top candidate for HHS secretary

Last update: February 19, 2009 - 12:03 PM

President Obama has focused on Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, an early ally with a record of working across party lines, as his top choice for secretary of health and human services, advisers said Wednesday.

Should she be nominated, Sebelius would bring eight years of experience as her state's insurance commissioner as well as six years as a governor running a state Medicaid program.

But with Obama about to begin a drive to expand health coverage, an issue on which the two parties have deep ideological divisions, her strongest asset could be her record of navigating partisan politics as a Democrat in one of the country's most Republican states.

Asked about the Cabinet job, her spokeswoman, Beth Martino, said the governor was "focused on the economic challenges currently facing Kansas, including our state budget and the impacts of the federal stimulus package."

It remained unclear whether the White House would finish vetting Sebelius in time to finalize her nomination by next week. Advisers described her as "the leading candidate," although they said no final decision had been made.

If she becomes health secretary, she will be the fourth woman in the 15-member Cabinet, overseeing 65,000 employees and a $700 billion budget. She would be replaced as governor by Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson, the former Republican chairman who switched to the Democratic Party when he ran with Sebelius in 2006. Parkinson has said he will not run for governor in 2010.

WILL GOP GOVERNORS REJECT STIMULUS?

A handful of GOP governors are considering turning down some money from the stimulus package, a move opponents say puts conservative ideology ahead of the needs of constituents.

Though none has outright rejected the money available for education, health care and infrastructure, the governors of Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alaska, South Carolina and Idaho have all questioned whether the $787 billion stimulus measure will even help the economy. "My concern is there's going to be commitments attached to it that are a mile long," said Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who considered rejecting some of the money but decided Wednesday to accept it. "We need the freedom to pick and choose."

U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., the No. 3 House Democrat, said the governors -- some of whom are said to be eyeing White House bids in 2012 -- are putting their own interests first.

In Idaho, Gov. C.L. (Butch) Otter said he wasn't interested in money that would expand programs and boost the state's costs in future years when the federal dollars disappear -- a worry also cited by Govs. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Alaska's Sarah Palin.

MORE ARE WORRIED ABOUT LOSING A JOB

Fears are mounting about losing a job, not having enough money to pay the bills and evaporating retirement accounts, said an Associated Press-GfK poll released Wednesday. Fear of being thrown out of work is so widespread that equal percentages of higher- and lower-income workers, 47 percent, worry about it. Last year, only 20 percent of those earning $50,000 annually or more worried about it, as did 35 percent of those earning less than that. Nearly two-thirds of people, 65 percent, are at least somewhat worried about paying their bills, up from 46 percent last year.

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