Joe Biden selects transgender doctor Rachel Levine to be his Assistant Health Secretary

President Joe Biden has nominated Dr. Rachel Levine to be his Assistant Health Secretary. Levine, a transgender woman, would be the first openly transgender person to be confirmed by the senate as a federal official. 

Biden’s nomination of Levine continues his pattern of selections that have led to a historically diverse administration. 

Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra would also be historic firsts in their own regard if confirmed by the senate for their respective positions.

Buttigieg, nominated for the position of Biden’s Transportation Secretary, would be the first LGBTQ  secretary in the Presidential Cabinet to be confirmed by the senate, while Becerra would be the first Latino person to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

Levine completed her undergraduate degree at Harvard University before moving on to graduate from the Tulane University School of Medicine.

Levine has a wide variety of medical experience in a career that has spanned decades. Beginning her career as a pediatrician, Levine would eventually be unanimously selected to be Pennsylvania’s Physician General. This would lead to her eventual nomination for Secretary of Health in Pennsylvania, a position she currently holds.

In addition to her role as Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Health, Levine is also a professor of medicine at Pennsylvania State University. 

Biden released a statement on the White House’s official website about his nomination of Levine.

“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,” Biden said.

Biden aims to appoint Levine in hopes she will be able to help lead America through the final stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. She brings to the table her experience trying to lead Pennsylvania through the entirety of the pandemic thus far as the state’s secretary of health.

Levine shared several of her thoughts on the COVID-19 pandemic prior to her nomination in a December interview with NPR.

“It will be essential for the federal government to provide more funding to the states, territories and cities that will be tasked with administering the vaccine,” Levine said.

This could be an insight to what Levine’s plans of advisory may look like in her early days as Assistant Health Secretary. 

The COVID-19 pandemic would be Levine’s immediate priority and the first of many public health matters she will advise upon over the course of the next four years if she is confirmed by the senate.