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California attorney general Xavier Becerra speaks as California Gov. Gavin Newsom looks on during a news conference in Sacramento in September 2019.
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President-elect Joe Biden will nominate California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to be his secretary for health and human services, the New York Times reported Sunday.
Politico, NBC News and other news organizations later confirmed the report.
The selection of Becerra is a bit of a surprise; there had been speculation had Becerra was under consideration for U.S. attorney general, as well as the U.S. Senate seat to be vacated by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
As head of the Department of Health and Human Services, Becerra would oversee both pandemic response and the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which has been responsible for the care of unaccompanied migrant children. As California’s attorney general, he has led efforts to protect the Affordable Care Act, has supported “Medicare for All” and and has defended immigrants’ rights, including the DACA program.
He was also a 12-term congressman who played a key role in getting the ACA approved in 2010.
Becerra, 62, would be the first Latino to lead the department. Biden has vowed to form the most diverse cabinet in U.S. history.
