US President Barack Obama has tapped Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be his health secretary to carry out his ambitious healthcare reform program, the White House said.
A senior administration official told AFP Saturday that Sebelius had accepted the offer to serve as secretary of health and human services - a position Obama had first offered to former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, who withdrew over tax questions.
Obama will make the announcement Monday at the White House, the official said. The 60-year-old governor, a rising star of the Democratic Party, was an early supporter of Obama's presidential bid. She was also said to be in the running for vice president. She served as Kansas insurance commissioner for nearly a decade before taking office as governor in 2003. She is currently serving her second term.
Her nomination came just days after Obama unveiled his budget for 2010, in which he allocated 634 billion dollars over 10 years to finance reforms to make health coverage more affordable and move the country toward universal coverage. Obama is to hold a bipartisan meeting on Thursday for policymakers and legislators to discuss reforms to repair the nation's ailing healthcare system.
Daschle withdrew his nomination in early February after revealing that he had failed to pay some 140,000 dollars in back taxes and interest. As health secretary, her first foray onto the national stage, she will be charged with shepherding healthcare reform legislation through Congress, in line with Obama's campaign vow to revamp the US medical system and help over 45 million Americans lacking health insurance.