Obama Sends Berwick Nomination to the Senate (Update: “Simply a Formality”)

He must have been feeling some heat to have made this 180. Naturally, he blames Republicans for forcing him to make the recess appointment in the first place.

Senatus reports:

President Barack Obama sent the Senate his nomination of Donald Berwick as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Monday — a move that comes two weeks after Obama bypassed Congress to put his stalled nominee in the post until the end of 2011.

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The president originally nominated Berwick to the CMS post in April, but Republicans blocked the effort and have tied the nomination to their criticism of the health care overhaul. Obama broke the logjam earlier this month by using a recess appointment to install Berwick in the post, a tactic that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said illustrated the president’s attempt to “arrogantly circumvent the American people.”

MORE:

From Bloomberg Business Week:

Sending the nomination to the Senate following the recess appointment is “simply a formality,” said Reid Cherlin, an administration spokesman.

Oh, that’s how it is. Will he at least get hearings?

Kabuki Theater. It’s what Washington does best.

Why did I think this was a story?

MORE:

The New Ledger: The Berwick Renomination: Just a Formality

Hat tip: Hot Air Headlines

Linked by Michelle Malkin, and Doug Ross, thanks