(ETH) – President-elect Joe Biden just made history on Tuesday by naming Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be his assistant secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), who could make history becoming the first openly transgender Senate-confirmed federal official according to a report from The Hill.
According to reports, Levine is a physician and professor of pediatrics and psychology at the Penn State College of Medicine and has been leading the state’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and has been confirmed three times by the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania State senate.
Biden stated: “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,”
“She is a historic and deeply qualified choice to help lead our administration’s health efforts,” he added. Levine is also the president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. Levine would with California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who Biden tapped last month to be head of the HHS.
