Biden picks California’s attorney general to be first Latino health secretary

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who has been chosen as Joe Biden’s health chief (Rich Pedroncelli/AP)

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’s coronavirus response.

If confirmed by the Senate, Mr Becerra, 62, will be the first Latino to head the Department of Health and Human Services, an agency with 80,000 employees and a portfolio including drugs and vaccines, leading-edge medical research and health insurance programs covering more than 130 million Americans.