U.S. President-elect Barack Obama introduces former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (R) as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services during a news conference in Chicago, in this file photo from December 11, 2008. Daschle withdrew his nomination as President Barack Obama's health secretary February 3, 2009, saying he did not want to be a distraction after paying $140,000 in back taxes. REUTERS/Jeff Haynes/Files (UNITED STATES) 

Secretary-designate for Health and Human Services Tom Daschle speaks to the media after meeting with Senate Finance Committee about his pending nomination on Capitol Hill in Washington February 2, 2009. Daschle, President Barack Obama's choice to lead reforms of the costly U.S. healthcare system, said on Monday he was deeply embarrassed about having to pay some $140,000 in back taxes, a lapse that raised questions about his nomination. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES) 

Secretary-designate for Health and Human Services Tom Daschle speaks to the media after meeting with Senate Finance Committee about his pending nomination on Capitol Hill in Washington February 2, 2009. Daschle, President Barack Obama's choice to lead reforms of the costly U.S. healthcare system, said on Monday he was deeply embarrassed about having to pay some $140,000 in back taxes, a lapse that raised questions about his nomination. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES) 

Secretary-designate for Health and Human Services Tom Daschle speaks to the media after meeting with Senate Finance Committee about his pending nomination on Capitol Hill in Washington February 2, 2009. Daschle, President Barack Obama's choice to lead reforms of the costly U.S. healthcare system, said on Monday he was deeply embarrassed about having to pay some $140,000 in back taxes, a lapse that raised questions about his nomination. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES) 

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs looks down during a press briefing at the White House in Washington February 3, 2009. Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination as President Barack Obama's health secretary on Tuesday, saying he did not want to be a distraction after tax errors forced him to pay $140,000 in back taxes.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES) 

Secretary-designate for Health and Human Services Tom Daschle (C) leaves after a meeting with the Senate Finance Committee about his pending nomination on Capitol Hill in Washington February 2, 2009. Daschle, President Barack Obama's choice to lead reforms of the costly U.S. healthcare system, said on Monday he was deeply embarrassed about having to pay some $140,000 in back taxes, a lapse that raised questions about his nomination. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES) 

Secretary-designate for Health and Human Services Tom Daschle (R) arrives for a meeting with the Senate Finance Committee about his pending nomination on Capitol Hill in Washington February 2, 2009. Daschle, President Barack Obama's choice to lead reforms of the costly U.S. healthcare system, said on Monday he was deeply embarrassed about having to pay some $140,000 in back taxes, a lapse that raised questions about his nomination. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES) 

Former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing about his confirmation for Secretary of Health and Human Services on Capitol Hill in Washington, January 8, 2009. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES) 

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama (R) introduces former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (L) as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services during a news conference in Chicago, December 11, 2008. REUTERS/Jeff Haynes (UNITED STATES) 

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama introduces former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle as nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services during a news conference in Chicago December 11, 2008. REUTERS/Jeff Haynes (UNITED STATES) 

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama (L) shakes hands with former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle after introducing Daschle as nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services during a news conference in Chicago, December 11, 2008. REUTERS/Jeff Haynes (UNITED STATES) 

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle pauses while speaking to the news media about a possible toxin found yesterday in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, February 3, 2004. All three Senate office buildings were closed today after a suspicious white powder was found in a mailroom in the building. Authorities are testing the powder as a toxin. REUTERS/Larry Downing LSD/HB 

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) speaks at a press conference
in the Lyndon Johnson room on Capitol Hill November 14, 2003. Daschle
and other Democratic senators were celebrating their blockage of a vote
on several conservative judicial nominees following an historic 40-hour
Republican filibuster. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

JME 

U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle's (D-SD) office received a
letter with a powder that Daschle believed contained anthrax, President
Bush said on October 15, 2001. "Today the Senate majority leader's
office did receive a letter ... the leader believes it is anthrax,"
Bush told reporters at the White House. The letter was still being
tested, he said. Daschle answers reporter's questions in this June 6,
2001 file photo. REUTERS/Win McNamee/FILE

WM/JP 

Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD), the new U.S. Senate Majority Leader, answers reporter's questions June 6, 2001. Daschle pledged Wednesday to find common ground with his Republican colleagues as his Democratic Party took control of the Senate for the first time in more than six years.

WM/JP 

Former U.S. Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing about his confirmation for Secretary of Health and Human Services on Capitol Hill in Washington, January 8, 2009. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES) 

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), nominated to be the next secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and his wife Linda Hall hold hands as they arrive for the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors Gala at the Kennedy Center in Washington, December 7, 2008. The 31st Annual Kennedy Center Honors awards are given for lifetime achievement in the performing arts. REUTERS/Mike Theiler (UNITED STATES)