Former EPA Chief Nominated to Fill HHS Post

Washington

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Mike Leavitt has been nominated by President Bush to replace Tommy Thompson as Secretary of Health and Human Services. If confirmed by the Senate, the former three-term governor of Utah may be faced with the thorny task of trimming billions from expanding Medicare and Medicaid expenditures.

Thompson, who announced his resignation Dec. 3, urged the Senate to confirm Leavitt as soon as possible. “Mike Leavitt is a strong, common-sense leader who knows how to deliver results,” he said in a Dec. 13 statement. “He will make a terrific Secretary of Health and Human Services.”

Thompson has said he will stay on the job until Feb. 4, or until a replacement is confirmed.

Some Washington insiders considered CMS Administrator Mark McClellan the top candidate for the HHS post. But, according to reports, administration officials said Bush apparently was reluctant to move McClellan from his current position as he oversees implementation of the Medicare prescription drug benefit, set to take full effect in 2006.

Leavitt, 53, was governor of Utah for 11 years before he was appointed to lead the EPA in 2003.