Obama looses health chief in tax row

View an online version of this email here.  All times are London time: Tuesday Feb 03 2009 Breaking news Obama looses health chief in tax row Barack Obama was grappling with his first full-throated political crisis when Tom Daschle, his nominee for health secretary, and Nancy Killefer, his pick for chief performance officer, both withdrew themselves from consideration following revelations of unpaid taxes. The news followed mounting pressure on Mr Daschle to explain more than $100,000 in unpaid taxes and comes just a few days after Tim Geithner, his Treasury Secretary, was confirmed in his job in spite of strong Republican opposition after he disclosed he had only recently cleared more than $30,000 in back taxes. "Even the much-vaunted Obama machine is going to feel real pressure from these revelations," said Thomas Mann, a veteran political scientist, at the Brookings Institution. "How President Obama handles the pressure and handles this political crisis amid all the urgency of passing a fiscal stimulus package will tell you a lot about how his presidency will fare." Read more » ABOUT THIS EMAIL You have received this email because you have signed up for this briefing on FT.com Manage subscriptions | Unsubscribe | Change your email address Change whether you receive this email as HTML or plain text | Forward this email to a friend Privacy policy | Advertise | Contact © Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2009. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. The Financial Times Limited, registered in England and Wales number 227590. Registered office: Number One Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HL. VAT number GB 278 5371 21.