华盛顿——当选总统乔·拜登选择加州司法部长泽维尔·韦塞拉作为他的卫生部长，让《平价医疗法案》的支持者担任领导角色，监督他的政府冠状病毒回应。
如果得到参议院的批准，62岁的韦塞拉将成为第一个领导卫生与公众服务部的拉丁裔人，这个1万多亿美元的机构拥有80，000名员工，其投资组合包括药物和疫苗、前沿医学研究和健康保险覆盖超过1.3亿美国人的项目。
两位知情人士证实了拜登对韦塞拉的选择，他们在预计于本周发布的正式声明之前要求匿名。
作为加州司法部长，韦塞拉领导了民主党各州的联盟，为“奥巴马医改”辩护，反对特朗普政府推翻它的最新努力。特朗普政府正在等待最高法院明年的裁决。
韦塞拉曾是众议院资深民主党人，他曾在2009年和2010年参与引导奥巴马医改法案在国会通过。当时，他会告诉记者，他的主要动机之一是在他的南加州区有成千上万没有保险的人。
韦塞拉有律师分析问题的精确方法和冷静的举止。
监督冠状病毒的反应将是他所设想的最复杂的任务。到明年，美国将开展大规模疫苗接种运动，特朗普政府已经为此奠定了基础。尽管这些疫苗看起来很有希望，并且已经不遗余力地计划它们的分发，但是当数百万美国人投入疫苗的时候，还不能说事情会有多好。
韦塞拉不会单干。拜登预计将宣布关键卫生保健在接下来的一周，他将采取团队合作的方式来应对政府的病毒。
商人杰夫·齐恩斯预计将被任命为拜登的白宫冠状病毒协调员。作为前总统巴拉克·奥巴马的经济顾问，曾在2013年HealthCare.gov网站灾难性启动后领导了对该网站的救援。拜登冠状病毒工作队的联合主席、前卫生局局长Vivek Murthy预计将重新担任类似于最高医疗顾问的新角色。
但HHS的核心组成部分是政府应对冠状病毒的基础。食品和药物管理局监督疫苗和治疗，而许多潜在的科学和医学研究来自国立卫生研究院。疾病控制和预防中心带头检测和控制疾病的传播。医疗保险和医疗补助服务中心为超过三分之一的美国人提供保险，包括弱势老年人，以及许多儿童和低收入人群。
在唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)总统的领导下，疾控中心(CDC)被降格为次要角色，因为机构科学家发布了一份严厉的早期预警，与特朗普关于病毒已得到控制的保证相矛盾，扰乱了金融市场。美国食品和药物管理局是一位总统反复攻击的目标，他怀疑其科学家是出于政治动机，也希望他们对未经证实的治疗进行橡皮图章。
在4月份加州应对冠状病毒的早期，韦塞拉为加文·纽瑟姆政府为遏制这一流行病而实施的大规模关闭辩护，包括限制宗教集会。南加州的三个教堂起诉了纽森、韦塞拉和其他州官员，因为现场教堂服务已经停止。
在接受美联社采访时，韦塞拉说，尽管人们有权信奉自己的宗教，“但任何人都无权仅仅为了能够超越现在开始危及他人健康和生命的手段而危及他人的生命。”
一位知情人士表示，韦塞拉管理加州司法部长办公室官僚机构的经验，以及他与共和党人合作的成功，帮助他确定了拜登的人选，但他无权公开发表评论。韦塞拉曾与路易斯安那州的共和党司法部长合作，在他们的州增加新冠肺炎药物治疗的可获得性。他还与其他共和党司法部长密切合作，对阿片类药物制造商提出法律挑战。
拜登的提议在周五扩展到了韦塞拉。当选总统一直受到国会拉美裔核心小组的压力，要求他任命拉美裔人进入内阁。
作为美国人口最多的州的最高执法官员，韦塞拉在民主党法律界开玩笑地被称为起诉特朗普最多的人。超出卫生保健这些诉讼集中在从移民到环境政策的问题上。
在成为州司法部长之前，韦塞拉已经在国会工作了十多年，代表洛杉矶县的部分地区。他在斯坦福大学法学院毕业后，也曾在加州议会任职。
他的母亲出生在墨西哥哈利斯科州，在嫁给了在墨西哥长大的加州萨克拉门托人父亲后，他移民到了美国。
韦塞拉经常引用他的父母作为他的灵感来源，说他们给他灌输了强烈的职业道德和对进步的渴望。他的父亲从事道路建设工作，而他的母亲是一名文职雇员。韦塞拉嫁给了专门研究产妇和胎儿健康的医生卡罗琳娜·雷耶斯博士。
在去年发布的一份美联社简介中，韦塞拉的一位终身朋友说，作为一名大学高尔夫球手和出色的扑克玩家，他在高中学会了保持冷静和自控。韦塞拉在用一套不到100美元的二手球杆练习时，研究了著名高尔夫球手的建议。
Biden picks Calif. AG Becerra to lead HHS, pandemic response
WASHINGTON -- President-elect Joe Biden has picked California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to be his health secretary, putting a defender of the Affordable Care Act in a leading role to oversee his administration'scoronavirusresponse.
If confirmed by the Senate, Becerra, 62, will be the first Latino to head the Department of Health and Human Services, a $1-trillion-plus agency with 80,000 employees and a portfolio that includes drugs and vaccines, leading-edge medical research andhealth insuranceprograms covering more than 130 million Americans.
Biden's selection of Becerra was confirmed by two people familiar with the decision, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of a formal announcement anticipated this week.
As California's attorney general, Becerra has led the coalition of Democratic states defending “Obamacare” from the Trump administration's latest effort to overturn it, a legal case awaiting a Supreme Court decision next year.
A former senior House Democrat, Becerra was involved in steering the Obama health law through Congress in 2009 and 2010. At the time he would tell reporters that one of his primary motivations was having tens of thousands of uninsured people in his Southern California district.
Becerra has a lawyer's precise approach to analyzing problems and a calm demeanor.
Overseeing the coronavirus response will be the most complicated task he has ever contemplated. By next year, the U.S. will be engaged in a mass vaccination campaign, the groundwork for which has been laid under the Trump administration. Although the vaccines appear very promising, and no effort has been spared to plan for their distribution, it’s impossible to tell yet how well things will go when it’s time to get shots in the arms of millions of Americans.
Becerra won't be going it alone. Biden, who is expected to announce keyhealth carepicks this coming week, is taking a team approach to his administration's virus response.
Businessman Jeff Zients is expected to be named as Biden's White House coronavirus coordinator. An economic adviser to former President Barack Obama, Zients also led the rescue of the HealthCare.gov website after its disastrous launch in 2013. And former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, a co-chair of Biden’s coronavirus task force, is expected to return in a new role akin to the top medical adviser.
But the core components of HHS are the boots on the ground of the government’s coronavirus response. The Food and Drug Administration oversees vaccines and treatments, while much of the underlying scientific and medical research comes from NIH. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention takes the lead in detecting and containing the spread of diseases. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provides insurance coverage for more than 1 in 3 Americans, including vulnerable seniors, as well as many children and low-income people.
Under President Donald Trump, CDC was relegated to a lesser role after agency scientists issued a stark early warning that contradicted Trump’s assurances the virus was under control, rattling financial markets. The FDA was the target of repeated attacks from a president who suspected its scientists were politically motivated and who also wanted them to rubber-stamp unproven treatments.
Early in California’s coronavirus response in April, Becerra defended broad shutdowns Gov. Gavin Newsom had put in place to curtail the pandemic, including limits on religious gatherings. Three churches in Southern California had sued Newsom, Becerra and other state officials because in-person church services had been halted.
In an interview with AP, Becerra said that while people have the right to practice their religion, “no one is entitled to endanger the life of someone else simply so that he can extend the exercise of his or her religion beyond means that would now start to imperil the health and life of another person.”
Becerra’s experience running the bureaucratic apparatus of the California attorney general's office, as well as his success working with Republicans, helped seal the pick for Biden, said a person familiar with the process but not authorized to comment publicly. Becerra had worked with Louisiana’s Republican attorney general to increase the availability of the COVID-19 drug treatment Remdesivir in their states. He’s also worked closely with other Republican attorneys general on legal challenges against opioid manufacturers.
Biden's offer was extended to Becerra on Friday. The president-elect has been under pressure from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to appoint Latinos to the Cabinet.
As the top law enforcement official of the nation's most populous state, Becerra jokingly became known in Democratic legal circles as the man who sued Trump more than anyone else. Beyondhealth care, the lawsuits centered on issues from immigration to environmental policies.
Before becoming state attorney general, Becerra had served for more than a decade in Congress, representing parts of Los Angeles County. He had also served in the California state assembly after attending law school at Stanford.
His mother was born in Jalisco, Mexico, and emigrated to the U.S. after marrying his father, a native of Sacramento, California, who had grown up in Mexico.
Becerra often cites his parents as his inspiration, saying they instilled in him a strong work ethic and a desire for advancement. His father worked road construction jobs, while his mother was a clerical employee. Becerra is married to Dr. Carolina Reyes, a physician who specializes in maternal and fetal health.
In an AP profile published last year, a lifelong friend of Becerra's said he learned to stay calm and self-controlled in high school as a varsity golfer and an exceptional poker player. Becerra studied the advice of famous golfers while practicing with a set of used clubs costing less than $100.
