AP
President Barack Obama and departing Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius took another victory lap, declaring the Affordable Care Act a success on Friday in a press conference during which Obama announced Sebelius' resignation.
In announcing Sebelius' departure, Obama heaped praise on Sebelius, saying she will "go down in history" for being the HHS Secretary when "health care became a right," not a privilege.
He acknowledged the problems with Obamacare's rollout, noting the "bumps and bruises" on both him and Sebelius. But much like he did in a Rose Garden statement last week, he trumpeted the fact that 7.5 million people had enrolled in insurance plans established by the law.
"We lost the first quarter of open enrollment," Obama said. "... The final score speaks for itself."
The White House announced Sebelius would be resigning late Thursday evening. Obama also announced Friday that he is nominating White House Office of Management and Budget Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell to replace Sebelius as HHS Secretary.
Obama said he hopes the Senate confirms Burwell "without delay."
Sebelius' own statement on her resignation was perhaps befitting of her tenure at HHS, and of the law's overall rollout. She was missing a page of the prepared remarks of her speech.
"Unfortunately, a page is missing," she said.