Kathleen Sebelius was a casualty of the widespread expectation that cabinet secretaries have the wisdom and power to work miracles

On 10 April, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, announced her resignation. While the Obama administration’s Obamacare policy has now enrolled of almost 8 million people, Sebelius was widely blamed for last year’s failures of the healthcare.gov website. MaryAnne Borrelli reflects on Sebelius’ resignation, writing that the trials that Sebelius weathered show the scale of the challenges directed at cabinet secretaries and HHS secretaries in particular. Her successor, Sylvia Burwell, is very likely to be at the center of the confrontations and culture wars that are conducted across and within the parties, just as Kathleen Sebelius has been.