The Senate voted 50-49 on March 18 to confirm Secretary-designate Xavier Becerra, JD, as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Becerra’s confirmation follows a split vote in the Senate Finance Committee on March 3 [see Washington Highlights, March 5].
The AAMC supported Becerra’s nomination in a Feb. 22 letter to committee leadership from AAMC President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD [see Washington Highlights, Feb. 26]. In the letter, Skorton noted that Becerra’s “experience in health policy and patient advocacy makes him a well-qualified candidate” and that his “leadership experience – such as the efforts to protect patients’ access to health care and establish health equity initiatives that he led during his tenure as Attorney General of the State of California – will be an asset in this role.”