Republicans Turn Up Heat on Sebelius (Sort of)

President stands by health secretary despite (some) pressure from GOP
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 8, 2013 11:07 AM CST
Republicans Turn Up Heat on Sebelius (Sort of)
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testifies on Capitol Hill, Nov. 6, 2013, before the Senate Finance Committee.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Ten Republican senators sent a letter to President Obama yesterday demanding that he fire Kathleen Sebelius over ObamaCare's online debut, but Obama wasted no time in reaffirming his support for the embattled Health and Human Services secretary. "If a similar rollout from any other national company or private-sector business resulted in overwhelming and sustained problems, a high-profile dismissal would be expected and appropriate," argued the letter, according to the LA Times. All the signatories are hard-core ObamaCare foes, including Ted Cruz, Mike Enzi, James Inhofe, and Pat Roberts.

But Obama has shown no sign of abandoning Sebelius. "Kathleen Sebelius doesn't write code. She wasn't our IT person," Obama said in last night's NBC interview. Politico also observes that 10 isn't all that many signatures. Most GOP senators declined to sign the letter, including many ObamaCare critics. "I'm not in the business of telling people to resign," Orrin Hatch said. "It's a tough position she's in, and she has to put the best face on an absolutely stupid bill." (More Barack Obama stories.)

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