President renominates Berwick for CMS administrator

President Obama renominated Don Berwick Monday for the job of administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. That was just one week after Berwick assumed the role through a presidential recess appointment.

President Obama, concerned that Republicans would attempt to block Berwick's nomination, circumvented the Senate confirmation process and installed Berwick at CMS during the Fourth of July holiday recess. (McKnight's, 7/8/10) Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee, which has authority over the confirmation hearing, protested the move, claiming to have been ready for a hearing by the end of July. A White House spokesman said the resubmission of Berwick's nomination is simply a formality, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.

Under the recess appointment, Berwick will hold the CMS administrator position until the end of 2011, at which point he will have to go through the nomination process again. If he is confirmed before then, he will hold the position indefinitely, according to Roll Call.