Natural State News

A group of Republican lawmakers consisting of 11 senators and 64 House members have called upon President Joe Biden to withdraw his nomination of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to take the office of Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

A letter was sent to Biden on Monday by the team led by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). Their argument is that Becerra was neither qualified nor fit for office given his public service record.

“Mr. Becerra’s lack of healthcare experience, enthusiasm for replacing private health insurance with government-run Medicare-for-all, and embrace of radical policies on immigration, abortion, and religious liberty, render him unfit for any position of public trust, and especially for HHS Secretary,” the letter read, according to The Epoch Times.

The legislators went on to express their concern over Becerra's experience saying he has “no meaningful experience in healthcare, public health, large-scale logistics, or any other areas critical to meeting our present challenges. Mr. Becerra’s lack of qualifications is particularly alarming given the important role the HHS Secretary will play in efforts to develop and distribute vaccines, coordinate research efforts, and draft critical regulations to carry out recovery legislation,” The Epoch Times wrote.

Becerra has an economics and law background, and served 12 terms in the House of Representatives, taking leadership roles in several committees and served as Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. He also served one term in the California Legislature.

They reminded Biden of his call for unity, which they say would be contradicted if Becerra is appointed to office. 

“At a time when Americans can least afford it, Mr. Becerra enthusiastically supports eliminating the private health insurance market for 160 million Americans, only to replace it with a government takeover branded as Medicare-for-all,” they wrote, as reported by The Epoch Times. “The resulting reimbursement cuts would devastate rural health care providers working to stay solvent during the pandemic and would be a slap in the face to the doctors, nurses and other health care workers keeping our communities healthy and safe.”

Becerra has previously voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act that protects unborn children. He voted against a bill that aims to protect minors from getting abortions without parental consent and also voted against a law aimed at prohibiting partial-birth abortion.

Religious sects and pro-life advocates have expressed their concern over Becerra's nomination, basing their arguments on his previous actions.

“Xavier Becerra is particularly concerning for his extreme positions on abortion. While a majority of Americans support at least some restrictions on abortion, Xavier Becerra has a record of expanding abortion access, challenging laws that protect women, and consistently voting against bills that would protect women and unborn children,” Matt Sharp, senior counsel and state government relations national director at the Alliance Defending Freedom, told The Epoch Times.

Becerra's stance toward religious causes is also widely known.

“[In] regards to religious protections, the protection for religion is for the individual, and so I think it’s important to distinguish between protections that you are affording to the individual to exercise his or her religion freely, versus protections you are giving to some institution or entity who’s essentially bootstrapping the First Amendment protections on behalf of somebody else,” he once said, responding to Assemblyman James Gallagher's question about religious liberties.

“Not only has Xavier Becerra sued the Little Sisters of the Poor to coerce them to abandon their religious commitments that conflicted with Obama Administration policies concerning contraception and abortion, but he has also been a vocal and supportive ally of Planned Parenthood,” professor Edward A. Morse, a member of the board of directors of the Thomas More Society, previously told The Epoch Times.

“He has been instrumental in focusing the state’s prosecutorial powers on members of the pro-life cause, including David Daleiden, who have shined a light on the business practices of Planned Parenthood and others in the abortion industry.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday told reporters Biden backed Becerra for his “decades of healthcare policy experience,” pointing to his leading role in the defense of the Affordable Care Act in the Supreme Court last November.

Some of the senators who co-signed the letter were Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), John Kennedy (R-La.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) led the House effort.

Becerra needs 51 votes in the Senate to be confirmed.