WASHINGTON — President Obama said Friday that he was nominating his budget director, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, as the administration tries to move beyond its early stumbles in carrying out Mr. Obama’s health law. 
 
 If confirmed by the Senate, Ms. Burwell would succeed Kathleen Sebelius, whose five-year tenure was marred by the disastrous rollout of the federal insurance marketplace that is a centerpiece of the law. Ms. Sebelius’s legacy, though, may well depend on whether Ms. Burwell and her successors can elevate public opinion of the law to a level matching programs like Medicare. 
 
 “What Kathleen will go down in history for is serving as the secretary of health and human services when the United States of America finally declared that quality, affordable health care is not a privilege but it is a right for every citizen,” Mr. Obama said in a Rose Garden ceremony that featured several standing ovations for the embattled departing health secretary. 
 
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 The nomination of Ms. Burwell was expected. Ms. Burwell, 48, spent much of the last year mired in Washington’s fiscal fights, including the standoff that led to a 15-day government shutdown last fall. She also handled health policy as part of her job as Mr. Obama’s budget chief. 
 
 Ms. Burwell, a West Virginia native with degrees from Harvard and Oxford, had several jobs in the Clinton administration, including deputy budget director. Before joining the Obama administration, she worked for charitable organizations including the Walmart Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She was also on the board of directors of MetLife, the insurer. 
 
 Mr. Obama praised Ms. Burwell’s work in the budget office, pointing to declining budget deficits and the divided politics of government that defined her short tenure. 
 
 “When the government was forced to shut down last October, and even as her own team was barred from reporting to work, Sylvia was a rock, a steady hand on the wheel who helped navigate the country through a very challenging time,” Mr. Obama said. 
 
 In her confirmation hearings, Ms. Burwell will almost surely have a tougher time than she had last year, when the Senate voted 96 to 0 to confirm her appointment as director of the Office of Management and Budget. 
 
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 Republican lawmakers remain fiercely opposed to the health law, despite the administration’s claim of success in signing up more than 7 million people for health insurance, and they are expected to use the hearings to press their case for a repeal of the law. Democrats running for re-election in the coming midterm elections have faced blistering attacks for their support of the legislation. 
 
 Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader and a frequent critic of the health care law, issued a statement hinting at how Republicans would approach the confirmation hearing for Ms. Burwell. 
 
 “I hope this is the start of a candid conversation about Obamacare’s shortcomings and the need to protect Medicare for today’s seniors, their children and their grandchildren,” Mr. McConnell said. 
 
 Mr. Obama accepted Ms. Sebelius’s resignation this week, most likely ending her long political career that stretches back to the Kansas legislature in the 1980s. She has been Mr. Obama’s only health secretary. Before that she was governor of Kansas and had been mentioned as a possible running mate for Mr. Obama in 2008. 
 
 Ms. Sebelius, in her farewell speech, called the Affordable Care Act the “most meaningful work I’ve ever been a part of. In fact, it’s been the cause of my life.” 
 
 “Throughout the legislative battles, the Supreme Court challenge, a contentious re-election and years of votes to turn back the clock, we are making progress, tremendous progress, and critics and supporters alike are benefiting from this law.” 

 President Barack Obama used a Friday ceremony announcing his new nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services as a chance to celebrate the Affordable Care Act, even though it came with an action widely seen as a long time coming — the departure of HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. 
 
 Obama, Sebelius and intended nominee Sylvia Mathews Burwell drew several standing ovations in the Rose Garden as they praised the work that led at least 7.5 million Americans to enroll in health insurance through exchanges, and millions more to gain coverage through Medicaid and other programs . 
 
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 But, like the law itself, the event was briefly derailed by a “glitch” that set tongues wagging as emblematic of the administration’s struggles with HealthCare.gov, as Sebelius acknowledged that a page of her prepared remarks had gone missing. 
 
 Still, tulips blooming around the periphery of the garden, it was an upbeat scene, as Obama talked up the enrollment numbers and thanked Sebelius for her role in making the new law work. 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: Website fiasco will taint legacy) 
 
 Sebelius will “go down in history” for leading HHS “when the United States of America finally declared that quality, affordable health care is not a privileged but a right for every single citizen,” Obama said. 
 
 “She’s got bumps, I’ve got bumps, bruises,” from working to pass the ACA in 2009 and 2010. “But we did it because we knew of all the people we met across the country who had lost a home, had put off care, had decided to stay with a job instead of start a business because they were uncertain about their health care situation.” 
 
 After early struggles with HealthCare.gov, Sebelius and her staff “turned the corner, got the job done. And the final score speaks for itself.” 
 
 Speaking after the president, Sebelius described her work expanding access to health insurance as “the cause of my life.” 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: Burwell's next marathon) 
 
 “I knew it wouldn’t be easy. There is a reason that no earlier president had been successful at passing health reform,” she added, but the Obama administration was able to make significant progress with the ACA. Sebelius read from prepared remarks and, in a moment that Twitter’s armchair critics quickly seized on as symbolic of her five years at HHS, she quickly flipped through the pages, only to say, “unfortunately, a page is missing.” . 
 
 To succeed Sebelius, Obama said, “I could choose no manager more experienced, more competent than” Burwell, the current director of the Office of Management and Budget. 
 
 “I hope that the Senate confirms Sylvia without delay,” he said, noting that Burwell was unanimously confirmed for OMB, and that “not that much has changed” in the year since then. 
 
 Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) signaled Thursday that the process may not be quite as easy as the administration hopes, and will include debate over the ACA and Medicare. “Ms. Burwell will be nominated to lead one of the most important jobs in government. And I hope this is the start of a candid conversation about Obamacare’s short-comings and the need to protect Medicare for today’s seniors, their children and their grandchildren.” 
 
 Speaking to reporters after Friday’s event, White House press secretary Jay Carney said it’s “appropriate” for senators to have many questions for Burwell and that the ACA is “fair game.” 
 
 Though Obama’s call for a quick confirmation process may come off as wishful thinking, Carney said the White House is optimistic that Burwell will be able to make it through. “There’s polarization as a matter of fact and regret for a lot of folks, but that polarization existed when the president had a number of nominees to cabinet positions confirmed in the last year,” he said. 
 
 Sebelius plans to depart in May, Carney said, but wouldn’t speculate on who Obama would choose to be the agency’s acting head if Burwell hasn’t yet been confirmed. He also declined to comment on who would replace Burwell at OMB. 
 
 In a sign of support from across the administration, Vice President Joe Biden joined the Obama, Sebelius and Burwell behind the presidential lectern, and Cabinet secretaries including John Kerry, Anthony Foxx, Tom Vilsack and Shaun Donovan sat in the front row. 
 
 As the ceremony came to an end, Obama and Sebelius hugged, and the president thanked his HHS secretary for her hard work. “Ditto,” she said. 
 
 Edward-Isaac Dovere contributed to this report.
– President Obama made it official today, announcing that Kathleen Sebelius is indeed resigning as health secretary. Politico highlights a quote by Obama at today's ceremony in the Rose Garden that could probably work for both her supporters and critics: She will "go down in history" as the leader of Health and Human Services when ObamaCare came into being. "She’s got bumps, I’ve got bumps, bruises," he added. "But we did it because we knew of all the people we met across the country who had lost a home, had put off care, had decided to stay with a job instead of start a business because they were uncertain about their health care situation." Sebelius, for her part, called her role in implementing the Affordable Care Act the "most meaningful work I've ever been a part of," reports the New York Times. As expected, Obama also named Sylvia Mathews Burwell, currently the White House budget director, as his nominee to replace Sebelius. "When the government was forced to shut down last October, and even as her own team was barred from reporting to work, Sylvia was a rock, a steady hand on the wheel who helped navigate the country through a very challenging time," Obama said. He made a joking reference to her 96-0 confirmation last year to her current post, while Mitch McConnell suggested things wouldn't be as easy this time around, reports the Wall Street Journal. She "will be nominated to lead one of the most important jobs in government," McConnell said. "And I hope this is the start of a candid conversation about ObamaCare’s shortcomings and the need to protect Medicare for today’s seniors, their children, and their grandchildren."