MSNBC is reporting that Tom Daschle has withdrawn his name from nomination. Hopefully this will lead to the nomination of Howard Dean.
"Tom made a mistake, which he has openly acknowledged. He has not excused it, nor do I,"President Obama said in a written statement. "I accept his decision with sadness and regret."
White House confirms.
Andrea Mitchell has confirmed that she spoke with Daschle and he told her that he needed to withdraw because he would not be able to get health care legislation passed with a "cloud" over his head.
This is the second withdrawl today of an Obama appointment over tax issues:
Nancy Killefer, who was slated to be the White House’s first chief performance officer, is withdrawing her nomination.
The White House later released her letter to the president, which in part stated: "I recognize that your agenda and the duties facing your Chief Performance Officer are urgent. I have also come to realize in the current environment that my personal tax issue of D.C. unemployment tax could be used to create exactly the kind of distraction and delay those duties must avoid. Because of this I must reluctantly ask you to withdraw my name from consideration."
CNN is also confirming:
http://www.cnn.com/
Tom Daschle withdraws nomination to be secretary of Health and Human Services.
For more information...http://www.politico.com
WASHINGTON - Former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle on Tuesday withdrew his nomination to oversee the Health and Human Services Department, just a few hours after another Obama nominee also withdrew.
Both had controveries with taxes.
Earlier Tuesday, Nancy Killefer withdrew as President Barack Obama's nominee to be the first chief performance officer for the federal government.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...
UPDATE: President Obama
"Tom made a mistake, which he has openly acknowledged. He has not excused it, nor do I," President Obama said in a written statement. "I accept his decision with sadness and regret."
UPDATE 2:
From TPM
White House adviser David Axelrod just briefed reporters outside the Senate chamber on the withdrawal of Tom Daschle's nomination as health secretary. Axelrod attributed the decision to pull out to Daschle -- not anyone within the administration -- and suggested that the news came as a surprise to the president, especially coming one day after Democratic senators stood behind their former leader.
"He called [the White House] this morning" to withdraw from consideration, Axelrod said. "I think he made the decision this morning." The
As a former senator, Axelrod added, Daschle "had a clear picture that there was going to be a delay" in his confirmation after revelations that he make a late payment of more than $100,000 in back taxes on a free car and driver as well as other benefits.