Joe Biden Picks California Attorney General Xavier Becerra To Be HHS Secretary

President-elect Joe Biden on Monday announced he’s nominating California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead the next administration’s Department of Health and Human Services, a surprise to many who believed the former Democratic congressman would be chosen to head the Justice Department.

The selection of Becerra — first reported by The New York Times and CNN on Sunday — is a victory for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which he used to lead. If confirmed, Becerra will be the first Latino to hold the position of HHS secretary.

Biden on Monday also announced his picks for several other key roles on his health team, including bringing back Vivek Murthy as surgeon general, nominating Dr. Rochelle Walensky to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and tapping Dr. Anthony Fauci to be his chief medical adviser on COVID-19.

“This trusted and accomplished team of leaders will bring the highest level of integrity, scientific rigor, and crisis-management experience to one of the toughest challenges America has ever faced — getting the pandemic under control so that the American people can get back to work, back to their lives, and back to their loved ones,” Biden said in a statement.

Latinx lawmakers had been pressing Biden to further diversify his Cabinet and include more Latinx representation. Biden has picked Cuban American lawyer Alejandro Mayorkas to run the Department of Homeland Security.

“Everybody’s eager to see a Cabinet that reflects America,” Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) said in an interview with HuffPost last week. “It would be a huge missed opportunity and disappointment if President Biden failed us in that regard.”