GOP Blasts Sebelius as 'Laughingstock of America'

Lawmakers continue push to shove her 'out the door'
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 27, 2013 12:19 PM CDT
GOP Blasts Sebelius as 'Laughingstock of America'
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius takes part in a panel to answer questions about the Affordable Care Act enrollment, Friday, Oct. 25, 2013.   (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

It's probably never positive for your career if Ted Cruz is calling for your head, but GOP Sen. John Barrasso is looking at last night's SNL Cold Open—which ripped HealthCare.gov and Kathleen Sebelius—and declaring Sebelius "the laughingstock of America. She's lost considerable credibility," he says, per the Hill. Rep. Marsha Blackburn piled right on, declaring that "the incompetence in building this website is staggering," and adding that Sebelius would testify before Congress "before she's out the door." Meanwhile, President Obama "has been poorly served in the implementation of his own signature legislation," says Darrell Issa, as per Politico. "If Kathleen Sebelius can’t reorganize to meet his agenda, then she shouldn’t be there." Other tongues that are wagging on your Sunday dial:

  • Rep. Mike Rogers on HealthCare.gov: "It was very clear to me that (the websites) do not have an overarching solid cyber security plan to prevent the loss of private information. I'm even more concerned today than I was even last week."

  • Bobby Jindal: "Fixing the website is the easy part. This is symptomatic of a bigger problem ... Is this administration the most incompetent or most liberal in recent history? Maybe they’ll bring in Al Gore, the guy who says he invented the Internet."
  • Ohio Gov. John Kasich: "The rollout is the least of the problems here. The rollout looks like a disaster. In my state, most Ohioans are going to pay higher costs. If you rolled it out perfectly, it would not take on what America wants."
  • Rep. Pete King on the NSA: "Quite frankly, the NSA has done so much for our country and so much for the president, he's the commander in chief. He should stand with the NSA."
  • Rick Santorum on Ted Cruz: "I would say in the end, he did more harm. I think it was not his objective. I think his objective was a laudable one. I think he didn't do a very good job of planning it out. I think it's one thing to have a goal and another thing to have a plan to get you to that goal."
Meanwhile, the Hill notes that Obama himself didn't want to talk about the website this morning, telling reporters, "C'mon, guys. I'm going to church." (More Sunday morning talk shows stories.)

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