Health Chief Sebelius Is Resigning

White House budget official Sylvia Mathews Burwell expected to replace her

By John Johnson, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 10, 2014 5:53 PM CDT

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Health Chief Sebelius Is Resigning — FILE - This Oct. 30, 2013 file photo shows Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington. The administration says more than 900,000 people enrolled for coverage under President Barack Obama’s health care law in February. But it’s starting to look like... (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

ObamaCare may have rebounded from its disastrous start, but health secretary Kathleen Sebelius won't be around for the next phase, reports the Wall Street Journal. In fact, Sebelius already has submitted her resignation, and President Obama has accepted it, reports the New York Times. The move is expected to be formally announced tomorrow, along with the president's nomination of Sylvia Mathews Burwell, currently the White House budget director, as her replacement.

Sebelius came under withering criticism over the botched rollout of the ObamaCare website, but the president resisted calls to fire her. Still, the Hill thought it was noteworthy that Obama didn't publicly thank her earlier this month when he happily announced that enrollment had reached 7 million. As for Burwell, she is a 48-year-old West Virginia native who went to Harvard and Oxford. While her background is in economics, her Office of Management and Budget has a big role in health care policy. (More Kathleen Sebelius stories.)

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