Republicans seek to pin California's Covid-19 problem on Biden's HHS pick [View all]

[DonViejo]

Becerra provided legal muscle for the state's pandemic restrictions.

By ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN

02/06/2021 07:00 AM EST

Senate Republicans plan to link President Joe Biden’s pick for Health secretary with California’s troubled pandemic response in a long-shot bid to sink the nomination later this month.

As the state’s attorney general, Xavier Becerra enforced stay-at-home orders and other restrictions imposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, including limits on indoor religious services that outraged many on the right.

The state, whose pandemic response was held up as a model in the spring for slowing disease spread, has since been consumed by the virus and new more infectious strains, with Los Angeles County now leading the nation in both cases and deaths per capita.

Newsom has received the bulk of the political blowback and is now facing a recall effort. But congressional Republicans, whose public criticisms of Becerra have so far focused much more on his support for abortion rights and "Medicare for All," plan to argue at his confirmation hearings that he’ll make California's strict rules the national norm.

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https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/06/republicans-california-biden-hhs-becerra-466165