U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) this week sent a letter to his Senate colleagues urging them to oppose the nomination of Xavier Becerra, President Biden’s nominee to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and to encourage President Biden to nominate someone qualified to lead our nation’s pandemic response.
“What America needs in its next Secretary of HHS is an individual with extensive healthcare experience and expertise to continue the successful implementation of a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination program. Successfully achieving this goal is critical to ensuring that America can eradicate the virus, and to getting adults safely back to work and children safely back into the classroom,” said Cruz.
“Despite the gravity of the healthcare crisis and the clear challenges facing our country, President Biden has nominated an attorney – someone who lacks the necessary experience and skills to serve as Secretary of HHS. The nominee, Xavier Becerra, is not a medical doctor and he possesses no medical training. Mr. Becerra also lacks relevant experience, such as leading a federal, state, or local healthcare agency or system; state Medicaid program or Children’s Health Insurance Program; or medical practice, clinic, or hospital,” Cruz added.
Xavier Becerra, Biden’s pick for HHS, is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 33rd and current attorney general of California since 2017.
He previously was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Downtown Los Angeles in Congress from 1993 to 2017.
Cruz said, “In the midst of a global pandemic, America needs a Secretary of Health and Human Services with direct professional healthcare, medical research, or logistics experience, not a partisan lawyer with no regard for privacy or conscience protections. Given these realities, and the critical importance of this position for the lives of the American people, Mr. Becerra is simply the wrong person to lead the department.”