According to reporting by the New York Times, President-elect Joe Biden has chosen former congressman and Democratic attorney general of California, Xavier Becerra as his nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Becerra has had a career focusing on issues of criminal justice and immigration, and in California took the lead on protecting the Affordable Care Act, and is dominant to dominant voice in the Democratic Party for women’s health.
Becerra became Biden’s choice only within the last few days, according to sources from the Times, but the President-elect has been under pressure to make sure that his cabinet includes a great deal of diversity.
The Congressional Hispanic Democrats expressed dismay during a call with Klain and other Biden advisers on Thursday about the treatment of New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who reportedly removed her name from consideration to be the new administration's interior secretary. They urged that she remain a candidate to head the more prominent Department of Health and Human Services, but it's not clear she will.
Lorella Praeli, president of Community Change Action, cheered Biden choice of Cuban-American immigrant Alejandro Mayorkas to lead the Department of Homeland Security. But her organization and others will be watching where the president-elect goes from here.
“There are Latinos who are ready for Cabinet-level positions and senior-level roles across our government so it is a matter of choice," Praeli said.
Biden still has many top jobs to fill, and many of the top contenders are people of color.
With the pandemic fully raging and having killed more than 281,000 people in the U.S., if Becerra is confirmed he will undertake a monumental task in his department.
Associated Press contributed to this story.
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