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President Obama recess appointed Donald Berwick to the post of CMS administrator last year to avoid a messy Senate confirmation hearing during which Berwick's prior comments about embracing health care rationing were sure to be a topic of interest. Senate Republicans were all too willing to hold the hearing - it was Senate Democrats who did not want the hearing and President Obama obliged his former Democratic colleagues by making a recess appointment.

In doing so, the Senate avoided a hearing and a confirmation vote by which every Democratic Senator would have faced a Catch-22. On the one hand they could vote to confirm Berwick, a man who looks favorably on the British health system despite its poor quality and poor patient outcomes, or they could effectively vote against the President by voting down Berwick. The later option provided additional pressure that by voting against Berwick, a Democratic Senator would be effectively telling the President they did not trust him to appoint people to implement ObamaCare (a law that Democrats had previously voted for just a few months prior).  

To listen to the mainstream media, Donald Berwick decided to step down from his recess appointment without moving forward to try and get Senate confirmation because of Republican partisanship. Avik Roy explains on National Review Online why it was not Republicans, but Democrats, who wanted him to step down.

Read Avik Roy's full article here.