If confirmed, Becerra will replace outgoing HHS Secretary Alex Azar, who has held the post since early 2018.
President-elect Joe Biden is expected to choose California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as his choice for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, according to multiple media reports Sunday evening.
Becerra has served as California Attorney General since 2017 and previously served as a U.S. congressman from California from 1993 to 2017.
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Additionally, Becerra has led a coalition of 20 states and the District of Columbia in California v. Texas, the legal case that could determine the fate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Last month, at a press conference before the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case, Becerra stressed the importance of protecting the ACA, which was signed into law in 2010 by President Barack Obama.
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"COVID-19 has made one thing undeniable: we must safeguard the ACA, lives depend on it," he said. "At stake tomorrow are not just details or differences of opinion or numbers on a piece of paper, at stake are people, their health, and their livelihood."
If confirmed, Becerra will replace outgoing HHS Secretary Alex Azar, who has held the post since early 2018. Azar replaced President Donald Trump's first HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD, who resigned in late 2017 after media reports that he had racked up thousands of dollars in unchartered private jet flights.
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The move comes weeks after Biden selected Ron Klain, formerly known as the "Ebola czar" under President Barack Obama, to serve as White House Chief of Staff.
Biden still has not selected officials who will serve in other key health leadership posts in his administration, including as administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services or Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation.
Editor's note: This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Jack O'Brien is the Content Team Lead and Finance Editor at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.
Photo credit: 11/09/2020,USA:President-elect Joe Biden delivers remarks on Covid-19 at The Queen theater in Wilmington. / Editorial credit: Stratos Brilakis / Shutterstock.com