Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, told John Podesta back in March 2014 that “it was a strategic error not to fire anyone in health care” over the botched Affordable Care Act rollout.
Tanden wrote in an email — published by WikiLeaks Thursday — that she had “been meaning to discuss” the issue for some time.
“It [sic] definitely fueling anger in the caucuses,” Tanden explained. “[C]arol Shea porter yelled at me about this for 10 min the other day [sic].” (RELATED: WikiLeaks — Clinton Allies Discuss ‘Scaring’ SCOTUS Into Favorable Rulings)
“I have been trying to meet w Phil [Reines], and hopefully we will do it this Thursday,” she continued. “But we are going to make public our call for a CEO.”
“I’m trying to be artful here bc of the WH Conference, but I do think in real life people would have gotten fired a long time ago,” Tanden added. “And not just people in the agency no one cares about.”
“Yup,” Podesta said in response to Tanden’s point. “[White House Chief of Staff] Denis [McDonough] is going to call Howard.”
Former Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius — who oversaw the rollout — resigned from her post on April 11, 2014, a few weeks after Tanden’s email was sent.