Two Obama nominees - Tom Daschle and Nancy Killefer - quit over tax problems

President Obama's promise of setting a new ethical standard for American politics took a knock today when his choices for budget enforcer and Health Secretary asked for their nominations to be withdrawn because of controversy over their personal tax records.

Tom Daschle had struggled for the past three days to secure his confirmation in the health role, admitting that he had been left “deeply embarrassed” by his failure to pay $128,000 (£89,000) in taxes for a car and driver provided by a wealthy Democrat donor.

Today, just hours after Nancy Killefer withdrew from consideration as the Chief Performance Officer over a similar tax issue, Mr Daschle gave up the fight, saying that he did not want to be a “distraction” for the Administration as it sought to introduce universal healthcare.

Source: The Times