Obama Taps Daschle for HHS Post; Waxman Gains Powerful Chairmanship

President-elect Barack Obama has selected Thomas Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat and former Senate Majority Leader, to serve as secretary of the Health and Human Services Department.

If he is confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Daschle will oversee a department—of nearly 65,000 employees—which includes FDA, the Medicare and Medicaid programs, public health programs and government research at the National Institutes of Health.

In related news, Rep. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat, ousted John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, as chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. Mr. Waxman spent 16 years as chairman of the Commerce panel’s Health and Environment subcommittee.