Daschle tapped as HHS secretary

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., is President-elect Obama's choice to be HHS secretary, a source close to Daschle said Wednesday.

Daschle, an early backer of Obama's candidacy, has long been interested in health care and was one of the staunchest backers of President Bill Clinton's failed 1993 push for universal care.

"I've got some ideas that I think could be of help on this issue," Daschle told CongressDaily in June, after sources familiar with his thinking suggested he would be interested in HHS if Obama won the election.

In his book, Critical: What We Can Do About The Health-Care Crisis, published in February, Daschle proposed a Federal Health Board to "create a public framework for a largely private health-care delivery system."