In a development that Washington insiders had been quietly predicting for months, Kathleen Sebelius announced Thursday that she is resigning as HHS Secretary. Critics were quick to point to the disastrous launch of Healthcare.gov and the glitch-filled rollout of the administration’s signature health law.
President Obama is expected to nominate OMB Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell to replace Sebelius Friday morning. The Washington Post notes that Mathews-Burwell is well regarded for her “strong management skills” and cites her experience in global health after ten years with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Politico reports that while publicly praising Sebelius for having overseen a late surge in enrollments that brought signups up to the 7.5 million mark by the time she announced her departure today, many Democrats are said to be privately “furious” about how badly the Obamacare rollout went and are worried that debacle could cost them control of the Senate in November.
If you’re curious about Burwell’s resume – after all – we’re talking about the woman who will (probably) be the official face of Obamacare until at least 2017 – WonkBlog did some digging back at the time of the hearings for the OMB job.
