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Who is Xavier Becerra? California AG and Obamacare defender likely Biden pick to lead Health and Human Services

Biden’s pick of Becerra was confirmed by two people familiar with the decision, who chose to speak on the condition of anonymity before a formal announcement expected this week

President-elect Joe Biden has been steadily announcing his team over the past few weeks. According to the latest news, he has supposedly picked California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to be his health secretary. This also means that he is most likely placing an Affordable Care Act defender in a leading role to oversee his administration’s coronavirus response.

As reported by The Associated Press, if confirmed by the Senate, the 62-year-old will be the first Latino to head the Department of Health and Human Services. Biden’s pick of Becerra was confirmed by two people familiar with the decision, who chose to speak on the condition of anonymity before a formal announcement expected this week.

Who is Xavier Becerra?

According to Politico, he has come under the national spotlight in recent years for supervising California’s multitude of legal battles against President Donald Trump’s administration — as well as helming blue states’ defense against a GOP lawsuit aimed at removing Obamacare.

The report further states he has spent nearly 25 years in the House of Representatives culminating in a stint as chair of the Democratic caucus. He has also sat on the House Ways and Means subcommittee overseeing health issues. However, Politico notes that unlike the other contenders who were assumed to be Biden’s likely choice for HHS secretary, he has not held a top health policy position before. Then-California Gov. Jerry Brown selected Becerra to be attorney general in 2017, replacing Kamala Harris after she was elected to the Senate.

As mentioned in The New York Times, Becerra said in June, when he filed a brief with the Supreme Court in defense of the health care law, “The A.C.A. has been life-changing and now through this pandemic, we can all see the value in having greater access to quality health care at affordable prices. Now is not the time to rip away our best tool to address very real and very deadly health disparities in our communities.” The NYT also stated that a spokesman for Biden’s transition team declined to comment.

He was born in Sacramento, and attended Stanford as an undergraduate and got his law degree there in 1984.

Twitter reactions

A user said, “Okay, I'm on board with @AGBecerra as HHS, but I'll be watching like a hawk. Becerra, you must push @JoeBiden towards #MedicareForAll. It MUST BE put up for a vote, passed, and signed into law by the end of 2021. Now, make @BernieSanders secretary labor!” Another opined, “Mr. Becerra has extensive experience in government, and I love that he will add to the diversity of the cabinet. But in a time like this you have to nominate a healthcare worker for HHS. This is an odd choice and, frankly, disappointing.” One commented, “Congrats to Mr Becerra. People of color are well represented as are the female gender. It’s time to appoint Pete Buttigieg to a senior position. He is a star and it’s sad if Joe doesn’t acknowledge that.” A user tweeted, “Oh no.  Becerra has been such a strong and reasonable voice for California. I hate to lose him.”

These remarks were made by the Internet and individual organizations, MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and nor does it support these claims being made on the Internet.