March 19, 2021

Becerra rises from Worcester’s Community Legal Aid to Biden’s Cabinet

BY Grant WelkerWorcester Business Journal

Xavier Becerra, whose career started at the Worcester agency Community Legal Aid, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be President Joe Biden’s secretary for health and human services.

Becerra addressed the vote in a brief tweet: “I’m honored and humbled by today’s vote in the Senate. Thank you. I’m ready to get to work at @HHSgov,” he wrote.

The 63-year-old Becerra’s career started at Community Legal Aid’s predecessor organization, the Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts. Community Legal Aid gives free civil legal help for low-income and elderly residents of Central and Western Massachusetts.

The next health and human services secretary, who was born in California, moved to Massachusetts when his wife was attending Harvard Medical School, providing legal services representing the mentally ill. He was most recently California’s attorney general, becoming the first Latino to hold the position when he took office in 2017. He previously served 12 terms as a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives covering the Los Angeles area, and earlier stages of his career included work as a deputy attorney general and a state legislator.

He is the first Latino head of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. His parents were both raised in Mexico.

Becerra earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and his law degree from Stanford University. He joins in the Cabinet former Massachusetts U.S. Sen. John Kerry, who is the United States’ special presidential envoy for climate. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is awaiting confirmation as the labor secretary.

Becerra takes over as the head of Health & Human Services at a time when the federal government is continuing to roll out COVID-19 vaccines, with Biden providing a goal of having every American adult eligible for a vaccine by May 1. Health & Human Services took two major steps in its pandemic efforts on Wednesday, including announcing $10 billion to expanding testing to aid in school reopenings and giving $150 million to help vaccinate residents of underserved communities.