Sebelius steps down as HHS chief

President Obama accepted the resignation Friday of Secreatary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and announced that he would nominate Office of Management and Budget Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell to be her successor (Source: “Obama announces Sebelius resignation, successor,” Washington Post, April 11, 2014).

Sebelius, who has served as Obama’s health and human services chief for five years, was instrumental in steering the sweeping health law through Congress in 2010.  As she announced her resignation Friday, Sebelius called her work on the ACA the “cause of my life.”

“We are at the front lines of a long-overdue national change,” she said.

White House officials said Sebelius approached the president about stepping down a month ago, suggesting that the close of the six-month ACA open enrollment window marked a natural point for a transition.