President-elect Obama’s apparent selection of former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle to head the Dept. of Health & Human Services (as opposed to our Dept. of Monkey Services, presumably), has stirred up some controversy already.

As Rocco Palmo reports, Daschle is a pro-choice Catholic who’s had some tussles with his local bishop. The HHS helps set federal policies on many sexual health issues, including contraception, abortion and education. Rocco links to a 2003 Weekly Standard article that says Daschle’s bishop told him not identify himself as a member of the Catholic Church. That’s pretty unusual, and worth checking up on, since I haven’t seen it confirmed anywhere else.