Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden continued to build his potential White House cabinet on Sunday with the choice of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as his Health and Human Services Secretary.
The New York Times reported that “people familiar with the transition’s deliberations” said that Biden’s decision to nominate Becerra to HHS came as “a surprise.”
Breaking News: President-elect Joe Biden has selected Xavier Becerra, a former congressman who is now the Democratic attorney general of California, as his nominee for secretary of health and human services. https://t.co/gb7iYa6JlM
— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 6, 2020
Becerra Has A Solid Progressive Record
Becerra is a former 12-term congressman and during the 1990s was the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. A trip by Becerra to Cuba during that times caused Florida Cuban-born Republican Congressmen Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Diaz-Balart to resign from the caucus.
Becerra made headlines after taking over the state attorney general’s office in 2017 by filing numerous lawsuits against the Trump administration, particularly regarding the Affordable Care Act.
“COVID-19 has made one thing undeniable: we must safeguard the Affordable Care Act — lives depend on it,” said Becerra in one of his court oral arguments.
Congratulations, @XavierBecerra! You’ve spent your entire career fighting for equality and justice. You’ve spent the last four defending the #ACA. Now, you‘ll help lead our nation toward quality, affordable healthcare for ALL — and continue to make CA proud! https://t.co/JcISWaqdT7
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) December 6, 2020
Becerra Blasts Trump For Attempting To ‘Dismantle’ Obamacare
“Every nation around the world has had to confront the devastating impact of the global pandemic. The United States, under President Trump’s watch, continues to set records going in the wrong direction,” Becerra would also say.
“Millions infected, hundreds of thousands dead,” he continued, “As if on cue, the Trump Administration cavalierly continues its march to dismantle the ACA and strip Americans of their healthcare.”
“We will do everything we can to defeat this unprecedented assault on a critical federal law by a sitting President,” said Becerra.
In 2017, Becerra told Fox News that he has been a longtime supporter of Medicare For All.
It’s exciting that we’ll finally have a #MedicareForAll advocate leading the Department of Health and Human Services. Congratulations @XavierBecerra! https://t.co/nm9coYeBHD
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) December 7, 2020
He Is A Longtime Supporter Of ‘Medicare for All’
“I’ve been a supporter of Medicare for all for the 24 years that I was in Congress,” Becerra said.
“This year, as attorney general, I would fight for that if we had an opportunity to put that forward in the state of California, because I think what we do is we give people that certainty that they’re going to able to access a doctor or a hospital,” he added.
In the lead-up to the election, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and her radically liberal “Squad” touted Biden as someone that they could easily push to take more progressive stances. This latest move serves as more evidence that despite what moderate Democrats say about Biden, he really might end up being the most progressive president of all time.
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