According to The New York Times, Tom Daschle has withdrawn his nomination to be Secretary of Health and Human Services and director of the White House Office of Health Reform. Instant reaction: This is good for the cause of ethics in government. Senators and Congressmen who look forward to an executive branch appointment someday will now be much more wary of immense consulting gigs and highly paid speeches to industry stakeholders. But this whole debacle has been very bad for health reform. Put aside Daschle's unique advantages -- his knowledge of the Senate, his relationships with legislators, his direct line to Obama. The administration will now spend time finding a new nominee, vetting him or her, waiting while they build trust and relationships in the administration and on the Hill, and so forth. I'd say the chances of health reform happening in 2009 -- and thus at all -- are lower now than a week ago. This also makes it more likely that the process is Congress-driven as opposed to White House driven.
