Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Mike Enzi, R-Idaho, has scheduled a hearing for the morning of Jan. 18 for Leavitt, who continues to serve as Environmental Protection Agency administrator.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, will hold a hearing on the nomination the next day. The Finance Committee has jurisdiction over certain health programs.

The hearings may explore Leavitt's record as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, his decision as governor to use a federal Medicaid waiver to scale back health insurance benefits for Utah's poor in order to cover more people, and his ownership interest in his family's insurance company.

President Bush nominated Leavitt on Dec. 13, 2004.