When covering this current administration, one must take what joy one can.
Mainly in the form of schadenfreude.
Many Legal Insurrection readers will recall my posts on Xavier Becerra. He constantly sued President Donald Trump‘s administration for implementing its America First suite of policies during his reign as California Attorney General.
The current occupant of the White House thought it would be an excellent idea to allow this progressive activist to head a department focused on health and human services during a pandemic.
To the surprise of nobody who followed Becerra’s antics, the strategy failed.
Top White House officials have had an uneasy relationship with Becerra, the health and human services secretary, since early in President Biden’s term. But their dissatisfaction has escalated in recent months as the omicron variant has sickened millions of Americans in a fifth pandemic wave amid confusing and sometimes conflicting messages from top health officials that brought scrutiny to Biden’s strategy, according to three senior administration officials and two outside advisers with direct knowledge of the conversations.The frustration with Becerra comes as top White House and health officials face growing criticism for health messaging missteps, as well as controversial policies about coronavirus testing and isolation.The administration has also struggled in the face of a tsunami of cases that have overwhelmed hospitals and shuttered some schools and businesses because so many workers became infected.
It appears that Biden treated Becerra much like he did Kamala Harris: Appointment to a position for which there was no prior experience and then no offer of guidance or support.
Becerra, who had little health care experience coming into the job, was never given a defined role in the pandemic response, allies pointed out.Still, those officials who have discussed his firing, believe he should have acted as a ‘de facto field marshal,’ The Post said, of the U.S. government’s health bureaucracy.They pointed to the federal government’s changing messaging on COVID-19 booster shots and isolation guidance as evidence.The sources also argued that differences between Becerra and the White House has complicated the pandemic response.
Despite all of the problems, it looks like Becerra is not in danger of being fired.
The report indicates a change would likely anger the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and other organizations that have pushed the president to name more Latinos to his inner circle.Appointing a replacement for Becerra quickly could also be difficult in light of the evenly divided Senate and the added workload caused by the recent retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
So while Biden may not appear to be tossing Becerra under the bus entirely, he’ll be kept around to be the scapegoat for many of the pandemic response problems. It couldn’t happen to a more likable guy.
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