Becerra expected to face heat over lack of experience but stress his personal and professional history at confirmation hearing
CNN
President Joe Biden's nominee for the nation's top health position Xavier Becerra will stress his upbringing as a son of a Mexican immigrant, his father's recent passing and his history expanding health care access during his time as a longtime congressman and California's attorney general, in a pitch to senators at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday, according to his prepared opening statement first obtained by CNN.
"I am here because my parents Manuel and Maria Teresa -- who had only their health and hope when they settled in Sacramento -- were tireless believers in earning the American Dream," Becerra plans to say in his opening statement. He would be the first Latino HHS secretary and served as the first Latino California attorney general. "We lost my dad last year on New Year's Day. When the end came, my Dad knew we were there with him -- at his side, in our home. Sadly, hundreds of thousands of Americans haven't had that closure this past year. That, senators, is why I'm here today," he is expected to say.
The retirement of Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin after nearly 30 years in office sparked an expensive three-way Democratic primary that has showcased the party’s divisions over how to confront President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and introduced pro-crypto forces as an influence seeking to shape the midterm elections. The contest is also setting up a test of Gov. JB Pritzker’s political clout in the state as he eyes a potential 2028 presidential bid.
One month into the partial government shutdown, hundreds of Transportation Security Adminstration workers going without full pay have quit, prompting more travel headaches amid ongoing staffing shortages, a winter storm in the Midwest and spring break travel.
Moves to create massive new immigration detention facilities are catching local officials by surprise, leaving them and their communities scrambling for answers.
The Israeli military said the brother of the man who drove a vehicle laden with explosives into a Michigan synagogue Thursday was a Hezbollah commander killed in a strike last week.
A Rhode Island community had their own “Miracle on Ice” last night when Colin Dorgan whose mother, father and grandfather were killed in a devastating shooting last month, scored the game winning goal in double overtime to lead the Blackstone Valley Schools’ hockey team to the championship game.
As the politics around Israel shift in the US, many Democratic lawmakers and candidates are seeking distance from the American Israel Political Affairs Committee. It comes as the group is spending big to shape the outcome of primaries across the country.
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy in February weighed possible political peril against a long career in medicine, ultimately casting the critical vote to confirm known vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy as the president’s Health and Human Services secretary.
As CENTCOM commander, it’s up to Adm. Brad Cooper to keep the military campaign on track until a political decision is made to end it — however long that may take.
As the war with Iran continues, oil prices are soaring and airlines will see higher fuel costs – which could hit travelers around the world in their wallets.
Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, grandson of former Cuban President Raúl Castro, appeared for the first time alongside Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel at two public events on Friday, raising questions, according to analysts, about his role in Cuba’s leadership as the island faces calls for regime change from the United States.
Federal prosecutors charged a lobbyist with trying to extort a former client and his son to recover half a million dollars in debt, according to court filings.
A slew of documents related to President Donald Trump’s plans to close and extensively renovate the Kennedy Center must be turned over to a Democratic congresswoman who sits on the center’s board ahead of a Monday vote on the president’s plan, a federal judge has ruled.
On a quiet Thursday morning in suburban Detroit, a pickup truck sat in the parking lot of a synagogue, as children and teachers inside went about their normal routines.