Becoming 44, a blog by Public Citizen that bills itself as providing "a progressive point of view on the creation of the Obama administration," is questioning whether the selection of Tom Daschle as HHS Secretary violates Obama's new ethics policy which states "No political appointees in the Obama-Biden administration will be permitted to work on regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years." Becoming 44 notes:

Daschle is a special public policy advisor in Alston & Bird's Washington, D.C., according to the firm's Web site, which singles out health care as an area of "particular emphasis." Elsewhere, the firm advertises that its health care legislative & public policy team "has the significant advantage of including two former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders – Senators Bob Dole and Tom Daschle."

We have asked the transition team how a health care team member for a major lobbying firm could take over Health and Human Services, a department primarily charged with overseeing health issues, without violating a prohibition against working on regulations or contracts related to his prior employer.

We will update this blog with the response when we get it.