President Obama could name his pick for secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) next week, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday.
Responding to a reporter’s question aboard Air Force One, Gibbs said “it’s entirely possible” that the president would announce his nominee within days. “I think we’re getting close,” Gibbs said.
{mosads}HHS is the last Cabinet-level entity without a confirmed person at its helm or nominee in waiting.
The rumor mill has churned out a lengthy list of HHS candidates. Most recently, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) has emerged as the frontrunner but other people, such as former Clinton administration health official Nancy-Ann DeParle, have been thought to be in the mix.
An HHS nominee announcement next week would coincide with a planned White House summit on health reform Thursday. Gibbs said the president would host lawmakers from both parties along with representatives of healthcare industry groups and that Thursday’s event would be the first in a series of health summits at the White House.
The Obama administration and the president’s health reform agenda suffered a blow earlier this month when the president’s original HHS nominee, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), dropped out amid a controversy over unpaid taxes.
In addition to heading HHS, Daschle was to be director of the White House Office of Health Reform. Gibbs would not say whether the new nominee would hold both titles, thus giving that person a coveted space in the White House in close proximity to the president. Lately, observers have speculated that the office’s profile is diminished by Daschle’s departure and might even be disbanded.