President Joe Biden has selected Dr. Rachel Levine, a pediatrician, as his Assistant Secretary of Health, marking history as the first and highest-ranking openly transgender federal official to be formally sworn in by the U.S. Senate.
WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he will nominate Pennsylvania’s top health official, Rachel Levine, to be his assistant secretary of health. Levine, a pediatrician and Harvard graduate, would become the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
“Dr. Rachel Levine will bring the steady leadership and essential expertise we need to get people through this pandemic no matter their zip code, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability and meet the public health needs of our country in this critical moment and beyond,” Biden said in a statement. “She is a historic and deeply qualified choice to help lead our administration’s health efforts.”
January 19, 2021 at 9:14 am EST | by Chris Johnson
Rachel Levine tapped to become first out transgender Senate-confirmed official
Pennsylvania Secretary of Health
Rachel Levine has been nominated to become assistant secretary of health. (File photo courtesy of the Office of Governor Tom Wolf)
Rachel Levine, who as Pennsylvania secretary of health guided her state through the coronavirus pandemic, has been tapped to become assistant secretary for health under the Biden administration, setting her up to become the first openly transgender U.S. Senate-confirmed federal official.
The Biden transition team on Tuesday, the day before Joe Biden’s inauguration as president, announced in a statement Levine was chosen for the senior health role, which is the No. 3 leadership position at the Department of Health & Human Services.