Tom Cotton Explains Why Biden's Pick for HHS Secretary Must Be Stopped

Katie Pavlich | December 08, 2020 10:20 AM

Republican Senator Tom Cotton will not be voting to confirm California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as the next Health and Human Services Secretary.

"Let's go through the problems with this nomination. So first, he supports Medicare for all. He's going to be responsible for running Medicare and Medicaid and Obamacare and many other healthcare programs. He's going to use the discretion the law gives him to try to take away your health insurance on the job, to give less flexibility, less control to families and to states who are in charge of these healthcare decisions," Cotton said during an interview with Fox and Friends. "Second, he is a true radical on abortion. He supported the lawsuits against nuns, he's gone after pro-life activists in California who exposed some truly grisly crimes by Planned Parenthood. And, third, look at what's happened in California during this pandemic. He has been on the forefront of locking down that entire state, of preventing schools from reopening and people going to church, defending the kind of decisions we saw over the weekend where the City of Los Angeles will allow a well connected film crew to set up a cantine in a parking lot of a restaurant but won't allow that restaurant to serve people."

"The Senate ought not to confirm him," he continued.

Cotton also said Becerra is so far left, he makes Senator Bernie Sanders look like a tea partier.

Xavier Becerra has been a leader in keeping California's schools, churches, and small businesses closed.

He'd be Joe Biden's nationwide lockdown enforcer--the Senate ought not confirm him. pic.twitter.com/iU0Lqf1v9U
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) December 8, 2020

Xavier Becerra spent his career attacking pro-life Americans and tried to force crisis pregnancy centers to advertise abortions.

He’s been a disaster in California and he is unqualified to lead HHS.

I’ll be voting no, and Becerra should be rejected by the Senate. https://t.co/mEvpMrqPeH
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) December 7, 2020

Xavier Becerra's lockdowns in California have been a disaster.

Liberal politicians dine on caviar at the French Laundry while working Californians are locked down and playgrounds are closed.

Now, Joe Biden apparently wants California’s lockdowns for the whole country.
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) December 7, 2020

And it isn't just Cotton who has questions about Becerra's lack of executive experience for the job. Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins is also questioning the nomination.

It was a sentiment echoed by Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the most moderate Senate Republican, who refused to weigh in directly on Becerra’s confirmation prospects but said she was “surprised that it wasn’t an individual who had a healthcare background.”