Daschle pulls out, doesn’t want to be ‘distraction’

Former Sen. Tom Daschle officially withdrew his nomination for the nation’s top healthcare post, sidestepping what would have been a contentious confirmation hearing next week and ending what he dubbed a distraction to the administration.

“To be chosen by President Obama to run the Department of Health and Human Services and to lead the reform of America’s healthcare system is one of the signal honors of an improbable career,” Daschle said in a written statement. “But if 30 years of exposure to the challenges inherent in our system has taught me anything, it has taught me that this work will require a leader who can operate with the full faith of Congress and the American people, and without distraction. Right now, I am not that leader and will not be a distraction.”

White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs lauded Daschle regarding his almost three decades in service, adding that the decision to step down was the senator’s alone. Gibbs said Daschle felt that the confirmation process would ultimately “distract from the important goals and critical agenda that the president has put forward.”

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who just last night vocally backed Daschle for the HHS post after a meeting with the former Senate majority leader, said he was surprised by the move. “It was not my sense last night (that he would withdraw,)” Baucus told reporters. “I just think some of the news reports and some of the editorials were a little stronger than he and perhaps some others anticipated.”

Baucus said that he learned of Daschle’s decision by way of a phone call, but declined to say if the call came from the former senator himself.

Regardless, the decision to remove his name from consideration caps a frantic five-day run where Daschle continuously found himself on the ropes for missing more than $140,000 that he owed in back taxes and interest from a consulting job and car services.

Daschle apologized to senators late Sunday, and then again Monday evening, admitting that he had made mistakes. “I would hope that my mistake could be viewed in the context of 30 years of public service,” he said Monday evening after meeting with the Finance Committee.

But many Senate Republicans were left unswayed. Before Daschle announced his withdrawal, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, said he would vote “no” on the confirmation. “I think that if Sen. Daschle cares about President’s Obama’s success and the success of this new administration, then he ought to remove this distraction.”

Democratic senators were mixed on what the decision meant for broader health reform efforts, many of them already under way at the committee level.

“If anything, this even adds more urgency for us to keep momentum, and President Obama is totally committed to health reform,” Baucus said.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), however, was less certain. “There are very few people who could step into the role that he was going to play,” he said. “It really sets us back a step because he was such a talent. He’ll be a hard person to replace.”

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