U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Supports Historic Nomination of Xavier Becerra for U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services

Baldwin Calls for Quick Senate Confirmation to Support President Biden’s COVID-19 Response Efforts

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin released the following statement after today’s Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing on the nomination of California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra to be U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS):

“I support President Biden’s historic choice for our next HHS Secretary, Xavier Becerra, and I urge the Senate to move quickly to confirm his nomination so he can get to work supporting our COVID-19 response efforts.

“I worked with Xavier when we were in the House together to pass the Affordable Care Act and as California’s Attorney General he led a national effort to defend the ACA and protect health care for millions of Americans. I support Xavier Becerra’s nomination to be our next HHS Secretary because I know he will not only protect people’s health care, including guaranteed protections for people with pre-existing conditions, he will work to expand access to quality, affordable health care, and lower costs.

“We continue to face an ongoing public health and economic crisis, and that is why we need an experienced and tested leader at HHS who is ready to lead our response to this deadly pandemic. This is no time to play politics and now the Senate needs to take swift action to confirm this nomination so President Biden has his team in place to get past COVID-19 and start building back better than before.”

Video of Senator Baldwin’s questions for Attorney General Becerra during today’s hearing is available here. On Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. ET, the Senate Finance Committee will hold its hearing to consider Attorney General Becerra for HHS Secretary, before voting to move his nomination to the full Senate.