“I’d love to see the hearings that would be held for a new HHS Secretary . . .”
I’m not so sure the Senate hearings would be bad for Obama and the nominee. The Senate Republicans are already on record voting to fund Obamacare and squashing the internal opposition. Obama and the press will spin the need to put aside mean partisanship and come together to fix the problem. Reid will use every procedural trick to make confirmation slide through and the Dem committee chair will tightly control the hearings. McCain and other Republicans can be counted on to backstabbing Cruz and Lee should they get vocal. The press will spin the daily story the way the administration wants it.
With the possible exception of Cruz and Lee I don’t see the Republican Senate putting up anything resembling a fight. Reid has the votes to win and as we’ve seen the Dems vote as a solid bloc on every key issue.
This is another opportunity to highlight the incompetence and malice of the Obama administration and Democrat-led Senate.
It would be a highly visible political volley between Left and Right, one that the dems cannot afford politically and do not want to participate in.
But we will see in the coming days how long they will stall about Sebelius’ tenure - cut her loose now or hold her tight and try to ride this out through the 2014 elections.