Upcoming Elections

Massachusetts Senate

Print | E-mail

CQ TODAY PRINT EDITION – HEALTH
April 23, 2009 – 12:15 p.m.

Senate Floor Debate, Vote on Sebelius Nomination Is Scheduled for April 28

By Drew Armstrong, CQ Staff

Despite threats from Republicans to delay considering the nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Senate agreed Thursday night to schedule a confirmation vote for April 28.

Eight hours of debate will start at 10 a.m. Under the agreement reached between Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., and the Republicans, 60 votes — instead of the usual simple majority — will be needed for confirmation.

Earlier Thursday, Reid had sought unanimous consent to schedule a floor vote. But Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky., objected, saying Republican senators had not had the time they needed to review the nomination, according to his spokesman, Don Stewart.

In a meeting with reporters later Thursday, Reid said he was “confident that the Republicans will let us move forward on that quickly.” He added that he was “concerned” about how long it was taking to get Sebelius and other nominees in place. “I think they should allow us to have a vote on that today,” he said.

President Obama nominated Sebelius on March 2. The Finance Committee approved the nomination, 15-8, on April 21. Two GOP senators voted for Sebelius in the Finance Committee — Pat Roberts of Kansas and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine.

It was unclear how many Republican senators had objected to scheduling a vote. When Democrats tried to have a committee vote on Sebelius before the spring recess, Jim Bunning , R-Ky., objected.

Bunning would not say whether he was one of those objecting to the floor vote, but he said that he thought several senators had.

Anti-abortion groups have urged Republicans to oppose Sebelius, a Democrat who supports abortion rights. They cite her acceptance of campaign funds years ago from George Tiller, one of the few doctors in the country who has performed abortions late in pregnancy.

Kathleen Hunter contributed to this story.

Interested in more from CQ Today? Request a Free Trial

Print | E-mail | Reprints
Tags:
Administration
Agencies
Health

Comments:
5
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
Facebook
Newsvine

Comments

  1. Dean April 23, 2009 12:51 PM
    Pat Roberts used to be a sane man. He voted FOR this troll. OMG. It might be time for Pat to consider retiring.
  2. Fox April 23, 2009 2:41 PM
    Regrettably, McConnell has a safe seat for five more years. However, we can hope and endeavor to retire his benchmate from the club next year.
  3. Keith April 23, 2009 3:15 PM
    Pat Roberts is a statesman first and his Finance Committee vote represents the elements of a conservative who knows when politics should be exercised as well as when it is time to make good government happen.
  4. Jello April 23, 2009 4:37 PM
    Anti-abortion groups forcing a delay in the nomination confirms one thing: the democratic process has been hijacked by partisan, one-issue groups who fail to represent the public at large. In the bipartisan spirit, both left and right groups are equal players. Just another reason why our federal system is beyond saving.
  5. Michael April 23, 2009 5:23 PM
    Everyday the GOP continues to show how useless they really are. They have nothing to offer this country except corruption, ignorance, extremism, and obstruction. Welcome to many years as a minority party!

POST A COMMENT