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Republicans Cautiously Maintain Support of Daschle

by Jordan Yerman | February 1, 2009 at 12:33 pm

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While Republicans aren't exactly coming out in favor of tax evasion, they're not quite ready to vote against Tom Daschle's nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services.

If I were Daschle, I'd keep my chin up: Timothy Geithner was confirmed for Treasury Secretary despite tax issues of his own, and despite Republican static over his nomination.

My prediction: they'll endorse him.

“We’ll have to question former Democratic Senator Daschle and understand his explanation, and then have a conversation about it and see where it goes,” Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, the second-ranking Senate Republican, said on “Fox News Sunday.” As to how much trouble the tax issue could present for the nomination, he said, “I think it’s too early to tell.”

Okay, most people have fudged their tax returns a bit, but $128,000 is a pretty big discrepancy.

Senior administration officials said on Saturday that Mr. Daschle was aware as early as last June that he might have to pay the back taxes, but did not inform the Obama transition team until weeks after Mr. Obama named him to the health secretary’s post.

My dad was a civil rights investigator for DHHS, and their offices in San Francisco didn't reflect a completely sound command of budgeting, so maybe it's a good fit.

[Edit: I had erroneously identified Daschle as a Republican]

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