A divided Senate Finance Committee on April 21 voted in favor of the nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) to be the new secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Five of seven committee Republicans, including ranking GOP member Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, voted against Sebelius, who is President Barack Obama’s second choice to run the department. The nomination now goes to the full Senate for confirmation.

Congress Revives Notion of Taxing Health Benefits

The Obama administration is hitting Congressional hurdles on its mission to pay for its massive healthcare system reform. President Obama campaigned against taxing people’s health insurance benefits, but that may be a necessary reality to balance the budget, some say.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), for one, favors taxing some employer-provided health benefits, according to an April 20 Wall Street Journal article. Specifically, Baucus,who is the Senate Finance Committee chairman, is open to taxing certain high-value coverage plans, according to the New York Times.

Labor leaders have lobbied Baucus against taxing health benefits, the NYT reported April 22.