Xavier Becerra is a Democratic politician, former Congressman, and former attorney general of California, who has been U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Biden Administration since March 2021.¹

Becerra grew up in a working-class immigrant family in California. He was the first member of his family to go to college and he began his political career working for the California Department of Justice. After a short stint in the California State Assembly, Becerra was elected to Congress and served for 24 years. He kept a fairly low profile but rose to the top of the Hispanic Congressional leadership.

In 2017, Becerra left Congress to become the attorney general of California. The New York Times called Becerra “California’s anti-Trump attack dog” for his constant lawsuits against Donald Trump’s administration. ² In December 2020, Becerra was nominated to head the Department of Health and Human Services, an agency of greatly amplified importance during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite limited healthcare experience. ³

Political Views

Becerra supports Senator Bernie Sanders’s (I-VT) Medicare-for-All government-run health care plan. ⁴ Vanity Fair has called Becerra a “longtime crusader for expanded access to healthcare,”⁵ despite voting against the 2003 Medicare expansion which lowered costs for prescription drugs for elderly Americans. ⁶

Becerra is a strong advocate of abortion. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) has said Becerra “spent his career attacking pro-life Americans and tried to force crisis pregnancy centers to advertise abortions.” ⁷ Pro-life groups were vocal in condemning Becerra’s nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services. ⁸

Becerra supports liberal expansionist immigration policies. Upon being appointed attorney general of California, he stated his intention to fight against any effort by President Trump’s administration to limit or repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program granting legal status to certain illegal immigrants. ⁹

Early Life and Education

Xavier Becerra was born in Sacramento, California, in 1958. His mother was an immigrant from Mexico who worked as a secretary. His father was born in the United States but grew up in Tijuana where he married at 18 before moving back to California. As a teenager, Becerra worked construction with his father and other odd jobs to help support the family. ^10111213

In 1980, Becerra earned a BA in economics from Stanford University. Becerra has described himself as an “affirmative action baby” ¹⁴ and was the first member of his family to graduate from college. In 1984, Becerra attained his JD from Stanford Law School. ¹⁵

At Stanford, Becerra met and married Caroline Reyes. They have three children. ¹⁶

Early Career

In 1984, Xavier Becerra started his career at the Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts where he advocated for individuals with mental disorders. ¹⁷¹⁸ His wife, Caroline Reyes, attended Harvard Medical School. ¹⁹

In 1986, Becerra returned to California to work as an aide to State Senator Art Torres (D-CA) representing Los Angeles County. ²⁰

From 1987-1990, Becerra served as deputy attorney general in the California Department of Justice. ²¹

California State Assembly

In 1990, Xavier Becerra ran for State Representative of California’s 59^th district at the behest of local Hispanic activists attempting to replace older entrenched Latino leadership. The incumbent, Charles Calderon (D-CA), decided to run for State Senate, and was expected to handpick his successor. Becerra ran on a law-and-order platform and rallied a surge of young voters despite accusations of elitism given his highly educated background. He defeated Calderon’s pick, former aid Marta Maestas, in the Democratic primary, and then easily won the general election. Becerra would severe a single term in the California Assembly. ²²²³

Becerra sponsored and passed a bill to permit high schools to offer voter registration forms to 18 year old students. He also pushed bills to increase sentencing for gang members who commit crimes on or near school property, allowing women to try out for boys’ sports teams in schools, and prohibiting businesses from requiring their employees to speak English. ²⁴

U.S. House of Representatives

In 1990, Xavier Becerra ran for U.S. Representative for California’s 25^th District encompassing part of southern Los Angeles. He entered the Democratic primary against numerous Latino candidates, but soon emerged as a frontrunner due to enthusiastic youth support despite accusations of “carpetbagging” by his opponents. The campaigns of Becerra and the other candidates slowed due to rioting in reaction to the assault on Rodney King. Becerra would win the primary with 31% of the vote, and won the general election with 58% of the vote. ²⁵

Becerra served in the U.S. House of Representatives for twelve terms, from 1993-2017. His 25^th District was redistricted into the 30^th District in 2000. Gov Track has described Becerra’s record as left-of-center. ²⁶

In 1993, Becerra was elected freshman whip of the Democratic Caucus. In 2006, he was appointed assistant to the Speaker. In 2008, he was elected vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, and was reelected in 2010. From 2013-2017, Becerra served as chairman of the Caucus, making him one of the primary drivers of the Democratic Congressional agenda. ²⁷

Becerra was a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and was its chairman from 1997-1999. ²⁸ In 1996, Becerra traveled to Cuba to meet communist dictator Fidel Castro, resulting in the resignation of multiple Republican members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. ²⁹

Becerra tended to focus his efforts on managing bills through committees rather than proposing bills. He was appointed to the Committee on Education and Labor, the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, and the House Ways and Means Committee. ³⁰ Becerra supported liberal immigration policies, expanded welfare, and promoted access to abortion. ³¹

Becerra first garnered attention as a freshman Congressman by challenging Rep. Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL) at the head of the House Ways and Means Committee for proposing to end disability benefits to legal immigrants. Becerra and the Hispanic Caucus negotiated an agreement to avoid the cuts. ³²

In 1996, Becerra was one of 67 Representatives to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act. ³³

In 1997, Becerra introduced a bill to give legal immigrants full access to welfare benefits which was defeated by Congressional Republicans. ³⁴

In 2002, Becerra was one of 133 Representatives to vote against the Iraq War. ³⁵

Becerra opposed President George W. Bush’s attempts to add private retirement accounts to the Social Security system. Becerra related to an experience growing up when his parents had lost their savings on a bad real estate investment. He argued that private citizens could be too reckless with their money, and thus retirement planning was best left to the federal government. ³⁶

In 2003, Becerra voted against the Medicare Modernization Act, President Bush’s Medicare expansion, because he viewed it as too favorable to pharmaceutical companies. ³⁷

In 2008, Becerra voted against President Barack Obama’s Emergency Economic Stabilization Act for prioritizing Wall Street firms over homeowners. ³⁸

Los Angeles Mayoral Race

In 2001, Xavier Becerra ran for mayor of Los Angeles against 23 other candidates. Becerra’s Hispanic support was undermined by Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) and a lack of name recognition outside of his home district. Becerra earned less than six percent of the Democratic primary vote, and City Attorney James Hahn (D-Los Angeles) won the general election. Villaraigosa would be elected mayor in 2004. ³⁹

U.S. Trade Representative

In 2008, President Barack Obama offered Xavier Becerra the cabinet position of U.S. Trade Representative. Becerra vacillated on the decision for three weeks before turning down the role supposedly over concerns of the low priority given to trade in Obama’s administration, but commentators speculated that he didn’t want to give up his role as vice chairman of the Democratic Caucus. He was the first individual to refuse a role in Obama’s White House. ⁴⁰

2016 Election

In 2016, Xavier Becerra considered a run for U.S. Senate in California. Becerra declined to run, and the seat went to then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris (D-CA). ⁴¹

Also in 2016, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (D-NY) considered Becerra as her running mate, but chose Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA). ⁴²

California Attorney General

In 2017, Xavier Becerra left Congress to replace newly elected Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) as California attorney general for the two remaining years of her term at the appointment of Governor Jerry Brown (D-CA). SFGate speculated that Becerra was chosen because of his record of advocating for liberal immigration laws which stood in contrast with President Donald Trump’s proposed immigration policies. At the time, Becerra’s law license had been inactive for 24 years. ⁴³

While Becerra served as attorney general from 2017-2020, he filed more than 100 lawsuits against the administration of President Trump. ⁴⁴ In 2018, the New York Times described Becerra as starting a “multifront legal war” against the federal government from the start of his term. ⁴⁵

Becerra’s lawsuits targeted President Trump’s agenda on immigration, the environment, and voting rights. In August 2017, California sued the Trump administration over plans to deny federal funding to cities which ignore federal immigration laws (sanctuary cities). In January 2018, California successfully concluded a lawsuit against the Trump administration to stop the repeal of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in California. In March 2018, California sued the Trump administration over adding questions about citizenship to the 2020 census. ⁴⁶ In January 2019, Becerra sued the Bureau of Land Management over federal leases to private companies planning on fracking Californian land. ⁴⁷ In May 2020, Becerra led a coalition of 20 states and the District of Columbia in filing a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court arguing against a legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act by the federal government and Texas. ⁴⁸

Trump administration Attorney General Jeff Sessions criticized Becerra and the California government for trying to engage in “government by litigation,” and filed numerous lawsuits against the state for allegedly filing frivolous lawsuits to disrupt the agenda of President Trump. In March 2018, the Trump administration sued California over three “sanctuary cities” which ignored federal immigration laws. In April 2018, the Trump administration sued California to strike down a law which made it harder for the federal government to sell federal land by giving the state the right of refusal. Also in April 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency sued California to stop its enforcement of stricter air pollution laws. ⁴⁹

Becerra oversaw writing ballot descriptions for California statewide ballot initiatives, and was criticized for writing the ballots in a biased manner against conservative positions. For instance, a proposal to repeal $5 billion in taxes earmarked for infrastructure was described as: “Eliminates certain road repair and transportation funding. Requires certain fuel taxes and vehicle fees to be approved by the electorate.” The California Department of Justice was sued for the description and forced to change it. ⁵⁰

In March 2017, Becerra filed a lawsuit against the Center for Medical Progress, a pro-life advocacy group, for conspiring to invade privacy by secretly recording fourteen videos of Planned Parenthood officials discussing profiting from the sale of aborted fetal tissue and other unsavory activities. The charges were dismissed in June, and then refiled in July. ⁵¹

In February 2018, Becerra created the Bureau of Environmental Justice, a division of the California justice department focused on the unequal impacts of pollution on low-income communities. ⁵²

In December 2019, Becerra attained a $575 million settlement from Sutter Health, a network of Northern Californian doctors and hospitals, for engaging in anti-competitive practices to drive up insurance premiums. ⁵³

In December 2020, Becerra was criticized by district attorneys across California for not acting to prevent COVID-19 benefits fraud perpetrated by prisoners, which have been called the “biggest taxpayer fraud in California history.” ⁵⁴ A January 2021 report found that $11 billion had been defrauded from the California state government, representing 10% of the funds paid out by the state, while another 17% of funds were under investigation. ⁵⁵

Also in December 2020, Becerra and California joined a lawsuit with 47 other states and the Federal Trade Commission in an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook. ⁵⁶

In late 2020, Becerra led a challenge to stop the prosecution of a woman charged with murder after her methamphetamine usage led to a stillbirth. Becerra argued that prosecuting the case would discourage pregnant women with substance abuse problems from seeking help. The California Supreme Court rejected Becerra’s motion. ⁵⁷

Nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services

In December 2020, President Joe Biden nominated Xavier Becerra to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Biden’s choice came as a surprise to health experts given Becerra’s law background and lack of experience with public health. ⁵⁸ A White House insider claimed that Becerra was chosen by President Biden because of their similar working class background, and for his legal advocacy of the Affordable Care Act when it was being drafted in 2010. ⁵⁹

President Biden had also reportedly considered Becerra for attorney general and Secretary of Homeland Security. ⁶⁰

Becerra was confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services in March 2021.⁶¹

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