Sebelius to be HHS pick

From NBC’s Athena Jones and Domenico Montanaro President Obama has picked Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be his pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, according to an administration official. The pick will be announced Monday afternoon at the White House, the official said. Obama offered the position to her Saturday evening, and Sebelius accepted, the official said. Sebelius, in the middle of her second term as governor, is barred from running for a third term. Many Democrats had hoped she would run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated in 2010 by Republican Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback . Kansas has not sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1932. It has been thought for a couple of weeks now that Sebelius was the leading candidate to fill the HHS role, originally offered to former Sen. Tom Daschle before he withdrew his name from nomination after it was revealed he hadn’t paid about $140,000 in taxes for a car and driver provided by an employer. ...( read more ) (link)