By Eli Stokols
Washington - Xavier Becerra was narrowly confirmed (click here) as the Health and Human Services secretary on Thursday on a near party-line vote.
The Senate voted 50-49 in favor of Becerra, who will be the first Latino to lead the agency. The vote also made him President Biden’s 20th appointee confirmed by the equally divided Senate. He resigned later Thursday as attorney general of California.
All Democrats backed his nomination, while Republicans were nearly united in opposition, with many pointing to his past comments and record as attorney general of having led more than 150 Democratic legal challenges to Trump administration policies....
The Senate voted 50-49 in favor of Becerra, who will be the first Latino to lead the agency. The vote also made him President Biden’s 20th appointee confirmed by the equally divided Senate. He resigned later Thursday as attorney general of California.
All Democrats backed his nomination, while Republicans were nearly united in opposition, with many pointing to his past comments and record as attorney general of having led more than 150 Democratic legal challenges to Trump administration policies....
The Republicans didn't like him because Secretary Becerra believes in confidentially between a doctor and the woman seeking health care.
A cool one million US dollars was spent to defeat Secretary Becerra in his confirmation. A million dollars is a lot to pass up for Republicans. The opposition was willing to spend that kind of money to defeat an HHS Secretary, then Republicans were opposed as well.
So who opposed the nomination? A good guess is the healthcare insurance sector. Secretary Becerra backs "Medicare for All."
A point of pride for Democratic lawmakers is the immigration background of Secretary Becerra. Both his parents are Mexican immigrants that met in the USA. Secretary Becerra was born in the USA, but, has an intimate knowledge of the difficulties migrants face for their healthcare. I am confident he will do a remarkable job as HHS Secretary.
