Nominee defends health law in Senate

Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the nominee to lead the Health and Human Services Department, received largely cordial treatment Wednesday from the Senate Finance Committee.

Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the nominee to lead the Health and Human Services Department, received largely cordial treatment Wednesday from the Senate Finance Committee.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's pick to be the nation's health secretary faced some pointed questions Wednesday over the health-care law, but she also won praise.

Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the White House budget director, pledged under questioning from Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, to try to recoup any federal taxpayer dollars that have been misused on failed health-law sign-up websites in states including Maryland and Oregon.

She defended the administration's record of making unilateral changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, such as delaying the requirement for employers to offer health coverage or pay fines.

"What was intended was trying to implement the law in a better way that's common sense," Burwell said.

Burwell, 48, got largely cordial treatment during an appearance before the Senate Finance Committee, just as occurred last week before the Senate's health committee -- defying predictions that her nomination hearings would turn into an election-year trial of the health law.

The full Senate could vote on her nomination as early as this month, and there is little doubt she will be confirmed.

Burwell was approved for her current post 96-0 by the Senate last year.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., introduced Burwell to the committee, calling her "remarkably responsible" and "a great listener."

But Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, warned that she would have to work to develop good relations with Congress after frustration with the person she would replace, Kathleen Sebelius, who was seen by lawmakers as unresponsive to their questions.

"We can be very cordial today, but if you want to change the relationship your department has with Congress, you're going to have to be willing to break the 'by any means necessary' mindset the department has had for the past five years," Grassley said.

The large hearing room was less than half full, which Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said was evidence that Burwell's nomination was widely supported.

It also pointed to a larger dynamic in Congress, where Republican attacks on the health law have receded somewhat in recent weeks.

House Republicans have not recently scheduled a vote to repeal the health law, though several have said they remain committed to doing so after more than 50 votes to repeal or dismember it. Other issues including the investigation into the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, have taken center stage instead.

A Section on 05/15/2014