For Leavitt, his confirmation will seem like a walk in the park compared to the political battles he has in front of him as head of health and human services.

Grassley said Leavitt, who has spent the last year as Bush's administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, will also have to deal with reauthorization of welfare reform legislation, with the 45 million Americans who lack basic health care coverage and the 4 million to 6 million uninsured children. And then there's the hot-button issue of importation of prescription drugs from Canada, which has the interest of Republicans and Democrats alike.

But, Grassley concluded, "Gov. Leavitt and his wife Jackie are the right team for this job."

Similar praise and similar warnings came from Democrats, who said they may disagree with Leavitt on policy but admire his willingness for innovation and consensus-building.

"Mike Leavitt is a very capable leader . . . and we are fortunate to have him," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. "He is someone who is creative and can think outside the box."

Wyden also expressed his enthusiastic support for Leavitt, in part because Leavitt told Wyden he has no plans to send a Medicaid block grant proposal to Congress. But Wyden was also concerned that Leavitt "left an awful lot of wiggle room" in his answers.

Leavitt's testimony before the Senate Finance Committee revealed that Leavitt hopes to implement some of the ideas he developed and implemented as Utah governor, including reducing the "Cadillac" Medicaid coverage for some and expanding basic coverage for more poor people.

Baucus reminded Leavitt that Medicaid costs have risen far less than in the private sector or in Medicare, and that the soaring federal budget for Medicaid is due to increased enrollment caused by the economic downturn and the high costs of long-term care.

Not surprisingly, Leavitt's list of priorities matched up perfectly with the priorities rattled off by the Finance Committee members, who oversee the HHS budget. He said welfare reform, Medicare, Medicaid and health care affordability are all on his agenda.

"I see the debate in Congress, the circumstances around us producing a large-scale discussion on how to improve health care . . . and I welcome that discussion," he said.

Leavitt said he was somewhat surprised when the president called with the job offer, "but when he asked if I was willing, I did not hesitate."