Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius “may become the biggest loser in the Senate’s approval of filibuster reform,” The Hill reports.

Sebelius “has kept her job despite the botched rollout of ObamaCare’s insurance exchanges, but it will now be easier for Obama to replace her. After the Senate’s vote, confirming an executive-branch nominee now takes just 51 Senate votes. Some think that raises the likelihood Sebelius will soon be a former Cabinet member.”

Politico: “Democrats must still find a modicum of compromise with the GOP if they want to swiftly approve Obama’s team. That’s because the filibuster remains in place as a delay tactic, requiring the Senate to burn hours of floor time unless the two parties can agree to speed up procedural votes.”

“Democratic leaders claim the bungled launch of Obamacare is just the latest news sensation — a media-stirred tempest that looks in the heat of the moment like it could upend the midterm election, but ends up fizzling well before voters head to the polls,” Politico reports.

“Some party strategists say they’re in denial. And that perceived gap between party spin and facts on the ground is fueling worries that the White House and Democratic higher-ups aren’t taking the possible electoral blowback seriously enough or doing enough to shield their candidates. Democratic contenders in the toughest races are distinctly less convinced that Obamacare will fade as an election-year issue — and they can’t afford to just cross their fingers that things get ironed out or that Republicans revert to political hara-kiri.”

Meanwhile, Democratic strategists tell The Hill that President Obama “has to get healthcare working smoothly if he is to have any chance of breathing life into his second term.”

“I think then we have to consider extending the deadline for the mandate, but let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”

— Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), in an interview on Minnesota Public Radio, suggesting he’s open to delaying the Obamacare individual mandate if the website isn’t fixed in time.

Amy Davidson: “Since the rollout, Obama has treated it as a given that the website will be fixed, and that everyone will remember how bad the present system has been and how much better the new one is… After five years in the White House, Obama still believes that he can go into a corner, tinker with something until it’s better, and win on the merits. The long view can serve him well, but it can also leave him unprepared when the other side won’t give up on an all-out battle. Health-care reform is the President’s signature legislative achievement, and a historic one. To preserve it, he needs to fight for it politically, state by state. This time, the Obama brand alone isn’t enough.”

After trying for months to delay implementation of the new health care law, Republican lawmakers are now “pushing back hard against the Obama administration’s decision to delay next year’s open enrollment season for health coverage under Obamacare until after the 2014 midterm elections,” the AP reports.