President-elect Joe Biden will nominate California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead the health and human services department. If confirmed by the Senate, the 62-year-old Becerra will be the first Latino to head the Department of Health and Human Services. Becerra has been one of the most outspokem opponents of the Trump administration having sponsored a wave of legal actions challenging environmental, immigration and Census policies.
Becerra would take on a crucial role in the Biden administration, leading its response to the coronavirus pandemic. As California’s attorney general, Becerra has led the coalition of Democratic states defending “Obamacare” from the Trump administration’s latest effort to overturn it, a legal case awaiting a Supreme Court decision next year.
The Department of Health and Human Services is a $1-trillion-plus agency with 80,000 employees and a portfolio that includes drugs and vaccines, leading-edge medical research and health insurance programs covering more than 130 million Americans.
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