February 04, 2009 12:00 AM UTC

Daschle Withdraws Name from HHS Consideration

• 0 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

What’s the deal with Democrats and not paying taxes? As MSNBC reports, Tom Daschle has pulled the plug on his own nomination for Health and Human Services:

Former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle on Tuesday withdrew his nomination to oversee the Health and Human Services Department, citing controversies over his taxes and his ties to the health care industry – and telling NBC News that a New York Times editorial also played a role.

His withdrawal came just a few hours after another Obama nominee, Nancy Killefer, said she was withdrawing her nomination. Both had controversies with taxes and cited distractions over that as reasons for withdrawing.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters the two realized “that you can’t set an example of responsibility but accept a different standard of who serves.”