Confirmation hearing for HHS chief is on the horizon
Tax and real estate data collection for secretary-designate Tom Daschle has taken longer than anticipated.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said he expects to get the information requested of HHS Secretary-designate Tom Daschle Wednesday and hopes to hold a confirmation hearing soon.
"The information we asked for is promised today, so I'm assuming it's today," Baucus told reporters, adding that he had spoken earlier this morning with Senate Finance Committee ranking member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, about Daschle.
Grassley said Tuesday he did not expect any problems with the confirmation. Healthcare policy watchers had expected Daschle to sail through the confirmation process, but the process of getting and sifting through his tax and real estate data has taken longer than anticipated. Baucus said completion of a broader healthcare overhaul may have to wait until next year.
"We're working it strong this year. It may finally slip over to next year, but I hope that's not the case," the chairman said. Although there is enthusiasm to get a comprehensive healthcare bill done, Baucus said, the process will be necessarily lengthy.
Baucus spoke to reporters after a news conference in favor of legislation on the Senate floor expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program at a cost of $32.8 billion. A Baucus aide said Democrats are aiming for a final SCHIP vote Friday. The bill is expected to pass.
Senators Wednesday defeated a substitute amendment, 65-32, offered by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., which would have limited expansion of the SCHIP program, barring aid to children from higher-income families and including a five-year waiting period for children and pregnant women who enter the United States as legal immigrants.
The Democratic bill lifts the five-year waiting period and expands SCHIP coverage to children in families with incomes up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level. New York and New Jersey would be allowed to cover children whose families earn as much as 400 percent of the poverty level.
The Senate also shot down an amendment, 60-37, proposed by Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., to reinstate the "Mexico City" rule. President Obama last week overturned the rule, which denies federal funding to international organizations that promote or perform abortions. More Republican amendments were expected throughout the day.