President Joe Biden's picks for HHS secretary, assistant secretary for health at HHS and surgeon general continue to go through the nomination process.
On March 3, the Senate Finance Committee voted along party lines to advance California Attorney General Xavier Becerra's nomination to lead HHS. The decision was followed by a procedural full Senate vote March 11 in which lawmakers voted 51-48 to allow the nomination to be considered in a final vote by the full Senate, according to CBS News. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the only Republican to vote in support of moving the nomination forward. CNN reported that the final vote is expected next week at the earliest.
Rachel Levine, MD, former secretary of health for Pennsylvania, is also going through the confirmation process after President Biden chose her in January as his nominee for assistant secretary for health at HHS. Dr. Levine is scheduled to appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee March 17. If confirmed by the Senate, Dr. Levine will be the first openly transgender Senate-confirmed federal official.
Vivek Murthy, MD, President Biden's nominee for surgeon general, too, is scheduled to appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee March 17. Dr. Murthy was surgeon general from Dec. 15, 2014, to April 21, 2017. He also co-founded Doctors for America, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization with more than 18,000 physician and medical student members from across the U.S.
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