White House official to lobby for Bush while awaiting FDA job

In a break with tradition, Bush administration health policy adviser Mark McClellan, whose nomination to head the Food and Drug Administration was announced this week by the White House, will not be making himself scarce in the coming weeks.

"He will continue in his current role," said his brother Scott, who also happens to be the White House deputy press secretary.

McClellan's nomination to the post-vacant since the administration's first day-has been a foregone conclusion since midsummer. But the betting had been that it would not happen until after Congress finished its work for the year, given McClellan's high profile representing the administration on such hot-button health issues as prescription drug coverage for Medicare and a provider "giveback" package.

A spokesman for Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.,-whose panel will consider the nomination-said he does not anticipate a problem with McClellan's continuing to broker on behalf of the administration while he goes through confirmation process rituals, such as paying "courtesy calls" on health panel members.

"We recognize his role in the White House and that we're in the last weeks of the session," the spokesman said.

Still, if the White House announced the nomination now in hopes that McClellan would be confirmed before the end of the session, officials may find themselves disappointed.

"There's a process in place that needs to be and will be respected," said the Kennedy spokesman.

That sometimes lengthy process includes the administration filing required paperwork, committee members having time to review it and the nominee meeting one-on-one with members before a confirmation hearing.

While McClellan is well-known and generally well-liked in the Senate, some have raised questions about his lack of experience as a manager and with regulatory agencies. McClellan-who is both a physician and an economist-has more experience in policy research.

The Kennedy spokesman said whether the nomination goes through is, in part, "dependent on how much longer the session goes."