Sebelius Steps Down
[guest post by Dana]
The Washington Post is reporting that HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will be stepping down from her post on Friday morning. According to a White House insider, Sebelius began having a conversation with the President in early March regarding the transition.
“At that time, Secretary Sebelius told the President that she felt confident in the trajectory for enrollment and implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and that she believed that once open enrollment ended it would be the right time to transition the Department to new leadership,” the official said. Bloomberg News and the New York Times first reported Sebelius’s decision.
The move comes months after the start of a rocky period in the rollout of the federal health-care law. The Web site on which Americans tried to sign up for coverage via the newly created exchanges was plagued by technical glitches and there was uncertainty about whether the administration would meet its enrollment goals. As the health-care implementation problems started piling up last fall, Republicans called on her to step down.
President Obama defended Sebelius back in November in an NBC News interview, saying that she “doesn’t write code; yeah, she wasn’t our I.T. person.” Press Secretary Jay Carney, defending her last week, rejected any suggestion that Sebelius would be fired.
–Dana
UPDATE BY PATTERICO: “Shut up,” he Voxplained:
Kathleen Sebelius is resigning because Obamacare has won http://t.co/GYi8z0ItLj
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) April 10, 2014
good riddance to bad rubbish…
and DING!
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 4/10/2014 @ 5:08 pmthey’re gonna need a bigger bus…
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 4/10/2014 @ 5:09 pmShe finally leaves.
elissa (477d9e) — 4/10/2014 @ 5:35 pmA day late and a dollar short.Many days late and many dollars short.Ezra’s kind of a sick puppy isn’t he?
elissa (477d9e) — 4/10/2014 @ 5:37 pmNo time at all between the announcement and when it takes effect!!
Sammy Finkelman (ebf45c) — 4/10/2014 @ 5:38 pmI wonder when she starts as a lobbyist for a health insurance or pharmaceutical company?
mg (31009b) — 4/10/2014 @ 5:40 pmThe New York Times has a pretty clear opinion about why she’s resigning:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/11/us/politics/sebelius-resigning-as-health-secretary.html?hp
Sebelius Resigns After Troubles Over Health Site
He will nominate Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, tomorrow.
It’s quite possible that Obama asked her to postpone her resignation till the sign-up period was over. Usually Obama hates to see people go.
Sammy Finkelman (ebf45c) — 4/10/2014 @ 5:47 pmEspecially such good Germans, Sammy.
Steve57 (e3957b) — 4/10/2014 @ 6:19 pmThe confirmation hearings of her successor should be interesting. Sort of like an urban riot.
MikeK (cd7278) — 4/10/2014 @ 6:24 pmYou have no idea, how interesting;
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/other/meet-sylvia-burwell-woman-who-ordered-government-shutdown-f8C11310667
narciso (3fec35) — 4/10/2014 @ 6:37 pmThe Gods mock me! Sebelius steps down the same day I have major oral surgery.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 4/10/2014 @ 6:38 pmYou don’t suppose this announcement today which immediately became the lead headline on Nightly News and all the new sites had any intent to draw attention away from the fireworks on Capitol Hill over Lerner do you? Naw, I’m sure it was just a coincicence. Although these type of announcements do usually come late on Friday afternoons and this is only Thursday.
elissa (477d9e) — 4/10/2014 @ 6:39 pmI submit that my analytical abilities and political instincts are way Better Than Ezra.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 4/10/2014 @ 6:40 pmYou’re not the only one;
http://twitchy.com/2014/04/10/this-guy-is-not-joking-brit-hume-others-floored-by-ezra-kleins-explanation-for-sebelius-resignation/
narciso (3fec35) — 4/10/2014 @ 6:45 pmshe’s an incompetent fascist whore
but i bet hoochie gets a sweet pension out of the deal
happyfeet (8ce051) — 4/10/2014 @ 6:48 pmPretty sudden for something so well planned. Maybe they forgot to tell Kathleen until today. Too bad she’s too late to get signed up for health insurance.
Kevin M (b11279) — 4/10/2014 @ 6:50 pmThebeliuttthhhhhhhh!
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 4/10/2014 @ 6:52 pmI’m hoping she gets a parade back in Kansas.
Kevin M (b11279) — 4/10/2014 @ 6:53 pmEzra Klein is not a sick puppy. He’s just a puppy. The kind that rolls over on it’s back and pees all over.
By the way happy, my wife said the same thing without the hoochie part.
Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 4/10/2014 @ 6:57 pmSF: Usually Obama hates to see people go.
Comment by Steve57 (e3957b) — 4/10/2014 @ 6:19 pm
Especially such good Germans, Sammy.
She was hurting his reputation.
Sammy Finkelman (93900b) — 4/10/2014 @ 7:02 pmAg80–
I’ll agree to his being both a piddle puppy and a sick puppy– but my diagnosis stands .
What part of this definition do you think is incorrect with respect to Ezra?
elissa (477d9e) — 4/10/2014 @ 7:04 pmPainted Jaguar wanted to say something in response to Mr. Klein, but his eyes went confuzzled, his face became contorted, and then he let out a funny sound that I can’t quite decide what to call it.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 4/10/2014 @ 7:08 pmI think I better call his mummy to come check out the little fella.
What part of this definition do you think is incorrect with respect to Ezra?
Comment by elissa (477d9e) — 4/10/2014 @ 7:04 pm
PJ just signaled “all of the above”.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 4/10/2014 @ 7:09 pmThe Armadillo said, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 4/10/2014 @ 7:10 pmEzra Klein’s Vox, the men’s room wall at Joe’s Bar & Grill — six of one, half a dozen of the other.
nk (dbc370) — 4/10/2014 @ 7:17 pmOK, elissa, you’re right.
Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 4/10/2014 @ 7:17 pmI think she wants out before the scheisse really hits de fan.
How many employers do we see absorbing a $6K goose to each and every offering?
60 to 90 million will lose their plan, doctor and sphincter control beginning B4 November.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 4/10/2014 @ 7:18 pmEzra Klein is not a sick puppy.
OTOH, there’s a theory that liberalism or leftism is a mental illness. Case Study No. 1: Erza Klein.
As for Sebelius leaving the White House, she’ll be waving bye-bye while her truly shameless, banana-republic colleague Eric Holder manages to stick around.
This kind of crap would never happen or certainly not have been tolerated to such a ludicrous degree if a right-leaning presidency were managing this nation. That’s why liberal hierarchies tend to be innately corrupt and prone to various forms of utter idiocy.
Mark (14c5d3) — 4/10/2014 @ 7:20 pmthe profoundly un-self-aware propaganda slut who did the write-up for the New York Times, one “Michale D. Shear” offers this gem:
This fascist on fascist love-in might as well read as follows really:
The resignation is a low point in what had been a remarkable career for Ms. Sebelius, who, Michael D. Shear of the New York Times reminds us was named by Time magazine as one of the five best governors during her tenure as governor of Kansas…
happyfeet (8ce051) — 4/10/2014 @ 7:22 pmsomeone point out the insurance comparies, 10Q reports are out in two weeks, which tells you about what the real nature of what Sebelius has wrought.
narciso (3fec35) — 4/10/2014 @ 7:26 pm30. And on that note I get the feeling, FWIW, we saw a top in the Market yesterday. Down volume today was huge. Hedges were already cashing out of their leveraged buys. Bond yields are headed down another 200 basis points.
Stocks will manage a recovery of sorts this spring but the bull run is kaput.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 4/10/2014 @ 7:47 pmthis market bleed-out will generate lots of taxable capital gains for to enrich the fascist united states government’s coffers as well as those of many states
happyfeet (8ce051) — 4/10/2014 @ 7:53 pmI struck a blow against fascism by traveling outside Cook County to buy cigarettes, avoiding its tax, and saved enough money so I got a haircut too and still had $10.00 left over, and already two girls stopped to talk to me and came back to talk to me again and they didn’t even want a cigarette.
nk (dbc370) — 4/10/2014 @ 7:59 pmyou’re an anti-fascist stud is why
happyfeet (8ce051) — 4/10/2014 @ 8:05 pmWomen can sense that.
nk (dbc370) — 4/10/2014 @ 8:06 pm==two girls stopped to talk to me and came back to talk to me again and they didn’t even want a cigarette.==
Yeah, but did you have nylons and Hershey bars?
elissa (477d9e) — 4/10/2014 @ 8:12 pmEzra is a parody.
JD (5c1832) — 4/10/2014 @ 8:23 pmAnybody know in which countries Sebelius has requested asylum?
Steve57 (e3957b) — 4/10/2014 @ 8:25 pmNo he’s a apparatchik, there’s a difference.
narciso (3fec35) — 4/10/2014 @ 8:33 pmNo nylons, I’d changed into gym pants. I always have Hershey bars. Both kinds. Nuggets and Kit Kats, too. [Makes Groucho Marx eyebrow raise.]
nk (dbc370) — 4/10/2014 @ 8:33 pm@ 13
Colonel Haiku, I love Better Than Ezra.
And you are.
Better than Klown, er, Klein, I mean.
kinlaw (76cdf4) — 4/10/2014 @ 8:34 pmNobody’s buying Ezra’s “winning!” version of the Sebelius story. The headline in tomorrow’s Chicago Tribune is:
elissa (477d9e) — 4/10/2014 @ 9:04 pmMan! That’s dumb, even for Ezra.
Dirty Old Man (fcf933) — 4/10/2014 @ 9:08 pmThat’s interesting, elissa. Usually, the Tribune’s White House stories might as well have been written by Axelrod. Under the bus/lightning rod or she just couldn’t take it anymore?
nk (dbc370) — 4/10/2014 @ 9:16 pmObama couldn’t can her incompetent butt before they “hit their target” (giggle snort) or it would have looked like an admission of defeat or caving in to Republican pressure. Her departure is safe politically now.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/10/2014 @ 9:30 pmour resident officer wins teh intarwebz for the evening….
/high five
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 4/10/2014 @ 9:49 pmShe will still be Banquo’s ghost, she created this monstrosity after all,
narciso (3fec35) — 4/10/2014 @ 9:53 pmSebelius is the “stuff” of the 3rd Reich. She would say and do anything for a seat at the table of power. Pelosi claims to be Catholic etc. Sebelius is a WHORE to power, and a bad one at that. Most Demotards who have become fixtures in the Demotard power world have sold their black souls to Satan.
Gus (70b624) — 4/10/2014 @ 10:00 pmNow Sebelius is “unemployed”. I hope COBRA bites her ugly azz.
Gus (70b624) — 4/10/2014 @ 10:02 pmShe’s sixty-five.
nk (dbc370) — 4/10/2014 @ 10:07 pmShe was born May 15, 1948.
Sammy Finkelman (93900b) — 4/10/2014 @ 10:12 pmExecutive Burn-Out necessitating spending “more time with my family”.
askeptic (8ecc78) — 4/10/2014 @ 11:33 pmWhy are the people of this country putting up with this administration?
mg (31009b) — 4/11/2014 @ 3:27 amBeing afraid of blacks is no way to live a life. Time for people to stand up and stop the nonsense.
Never happen with a nation of pussies.
Ezra Klein is correct—some of Kathleen Sebelius’ winning testimony before Congress is indicative of a true American visionary who knew precisely how to navigate the U.S.S. ObamaCare around the iceberg;
“I don’t know,” “I can’t recall,” “I don’t have that information,” “Let me check with some other people about that,” and “I really don’t know the answer to that question.”
Winning !
See ?
Elephant Stone (8a7f08) — 4/11/2014 @ 7:43 amPolitics really is like golf…the lowest score wins !
Get Ms. Sebelius fitted for the green jacket !
Brownie, you’re doing a heckuva job.
AZ Bob (533fbc) — 4/11/2014 @ 8:15 amThey are saying now that Sebelius made her decision in early March.
Hat tip Morning Jolt:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/10/kathleen-sebelius-absolutely_n_5129069.html
Of course, she may not have known just when her resignation would be accepted. It seems Obama was waiting till he had a successor picked out – also this is a good window in time to nominate a succssor.
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 4/11/2014 @ 9:03 amShe will still be Banquo’s ghost, she created this monstrosity after all
No, Obama did.
Kevin M (b11279) — 4/11/2014 @ 9:54 amLay off of poor Ezra–it’s not nice to make fun of someone’s addiction. In his case, it’s addiction to the taste of Obama’s boot polish and shoelaces, but still.
M. Scott Eiland (c249e1) — 4/11/2014 @ 2:10 pmNo matter what job she gets in the future, it will inevitably be a come down for her. There is just no way she will ever again have the opportunity to rack up as many abortions as she was able to help make happen during her reign as the top administrator of Obamacare.
Anon Y. Mous (8ec442) — 4/12/2014 @ 1:59 amThe New York Times did some reporting on this resignation, including an interview wih Sebelius and it calls this a slow motion resignation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/12/us/politics/sebeliuss-slow-motion-resignation-from-the-cabinet.html
Around Thanksgiving, they say “it became clear” she ahd to go.
Sammy Finkelman (c33275) — 4/13/2014 @ 12:09 am