BECERRA ON TRACK FOR CONFIRMATION TO LEAD HHS
Californian receives party-line vote from Senate committee
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s nomination to become the nation’s first Latino secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services is headed to the Senate floor after the Finance Committee deadlocked Wednesday in a partyline vote.
Senate rules now allow Senate Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to bring the nomination to the full Senate. After two hearings failed to stymie Becerra’s progress or persuade Democrats not to support him, he appeared on track for approval.
Republicans had zeroed in on derailing Becerra’s confirmation, criticizing his lack of medical experience and his support for abortion access.
Conservative groups pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into ads to pressure moderate Democrats not to support him.
As attorney general, Becerra sued the Trump administration over its restrictions on abortion, though his office says that only four of the 124 lawsuits Becerra filed against the previous administration dealt with abortion, birth control or conscience rights — key issues for religious conservatives.
Becerra went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to defend a California law that required crisis pregnancy centers to provide information about abortion — and lost.
His legal advocacy grated on opponents of abortion rights such as Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. As attorney general, “you spent an inordinate amount of time and effort suing pro-life organizations,” he said, questioning Becerra recently.
“If confirmed, how do you assure us? Because I think the majority of the American people would not want their secretary of Health and Human Services focused or fixated on expanding abortion when we got all of these public health issues to deal with,” Thune said.
The other line of criticism from Republicans came from Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who said before the vote that Becerra is “a very good attorney general” and “very bright,” but said he doesn’t have the health care background the job deserves.
Democrats noted that the majority of Health and Human Services secretaries have not had medical backgrounds and that Becerra served on the committee that sets health care policy during his 24 years in the House. He was among the small group of lawmakers who helped write the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
“Senators will always have different views than nominees of the other party. Some of those issues came up (in last week’s hearing), including women’s health care. But disagreement on some issues alone is not a good enough reason to oppose a nominee as qualified and knowledgeable as Attorney General Becerra,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the committee’s chair.
The Senate could confirm Becerra to the job as soon as next week. Some moderate Republicans, including Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, have indicated they may back Becerra.