[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/07/07/art.wh2.0325.gi.jpg caption ="In a blog post on the White House website, communications director Dan Pfeiffer wrote that President Obama will use a recess appointment to make Dr. Donald Berwick the head of Medicare and Medicaid."]

Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama will sidestep Congress by using a recess appointment to make Dr. Donald Berwick the new head of the federal agency overseeing Medicare and Medicaid, the White House announced Tuesday.

In a blog post on the White House website, communications director Dan Pfeiffer wrote that Obama will make the appointment on Wednesday.

According to the blog post, Republicans in Congress had indicated they would stall Berwick's nomination last April as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

A recess appointment allows the president to install Berwick while the Senate is on vacation, to serve for the rest of the congressional term, which expires at the end of the year.

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