The vote went from 50 to 49. Maine GOP senator Susan Collins joined the Senate Democrats in favor of the nomination. Hawaii’s Democratic senator Mazie Hirono did not vote.
During the confirmation process, Becerra emphasized his upbringing, his father’s recent passing away and his efforts to expand access to health as California’s attorney general and a 24-year-old congressman representing a Los Angeles district.
The vast majority of Senate Republicans opposed Becerra’s nomination because of his support for abortion rights and his lack of experience as a health professional.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer praised Becerra’s experience and criticized the Republicans’ arguments against him, saying they “are almost on the verge of ridicule”.
“They complain out loud that he has no direct experience as a medical professional,” he said. “Even though Republicans voted in unison to install Alex Azar, a pharmaceutical executive who raised drug prices and tried to undermine our country’s health law as a former HHS secretary.”
“I understand the enormous challenges we face and our solemn responsibility to be faithful stewards of an agency that touches almost every aspect of our lives,” said Becerra at a nominating hearing in February.
The former California Attorney General was the main advocate for the Affordable Care Act in court. While the Trump administration joined a coalition of Republican state attorney generals to overturn the historic health care law, Becerra led a group of Democratic attorney generals arguing why the law remains valid. The question was whether reducing Congress’ penalty for not having health insurance to zero made the individual mandate unconstitutional and caused the entire law to fall.
Becerra also openly defends women’s health, the rights of undocumented migrants and Medicare for All.
Of the 23 cabinet-level positions that require consideration by the Senate, 20 have already been confirmed.
CNN’s Jasmine Wright and Tami Luhby contributed to this report.