Senate confirms Sylvia Mathews Burwell for HHS secretary

The U.S. quickly and painlessly confirmed Sylvia Mathews Burwell on Thursday to be the next Department of Health and Human Services secretary.

In a 78 to 17 vote, Burwell officially became the 22nd secretary of the HHS and will succeed Kathleen Sebelius, who stepped down in early April, reports The Washington Post.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Rob Wyden (D-Ore.) said that Burwell passed easily thanks to "a choir of bipartisan support" as "she is really that good, she is really that capable, and she is really that qualified."

She was nominated almost as soon as Sebelius announced her resignation after five years. Burwell has mostly worked on the economic side of things during her time with the government and she was most recently the director of the Office of Management and Budget.

As the head of the HHS, Burwell will have to guide 11 different federal agencies while likely initially focusing on continuing the rollout of the Affordable Care Act.

Burwell will officially become the secretary after being sworn in on Monday.