The full Senate will vote to confirm Xavier Becerra, President Biden’s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, after the Finance Committee’s tied vote on Wednesday.
The Senate Finance Committee voted 14-14 along party lines on Becerra’s nomination. Under rules for the split Senate, the nomination will now need four hours of debate followed by a majority vote in the Senate to be brought for a final vote.
The GOP has portrayed Becerra, the current attorney general of California, as a left-wing culture warrior intent on implementing divisive liberal policies. His legal fights against anti-abortion activist David Daleiden and Trump-era religious exemptions for faith-based ministries, such as the Little Sisters of the Poor, as well as his defense of Obamacare in the Supreme Court, have all given him a reputation among Republicans of promoting “radical” policies.
It is unclear whether any Senate Republicans will back Becerra, though centrist Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have said they are undecided. Meanwhile, Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who have not always voted on party lines for Biden’s nominations, have stayed silent on Becerra.