Xavier Becerra

Xavier Becerra
Off‌icial portrait, 2021
25th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services
Incumbent
Assumed office March 19, 2021
President	Joe Biden
Deputy	Andrea Palm
Preceded by	Alex Azar
33rd Attorney General of California
In office January 24, 2017 – March 18, 2021
Governor	Jerry Brown Gavin Newsom
Preceded by	Kamala Harris
Succeeded by	Rob Bonta
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California
In office January 3, 1993 – January 24, 2017
Preceded by	Edward Roybal (Redistricting)
Succeeded by	Jimmy Gomez
Constituency	30th district (1993–2003) 31st district (2003–2013) 34th district (2013–2017)
Chair of the House Democratic Caucus
In office January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2017
Deputy	Joe Crowley
Leader	Nancy Pelosi
Preceded by	John Larson
Succeeded by	Joe Crowley
Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus
In office January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2013
Leader	Nancy Pelosi
Preceded by	John Larson
Succeeded by	Joe Crowley
House Democratic Assistant to the Leader
In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2009
Leader	Nancy Pelosi
Preceded by	John Spratt
Succeeded by	Chris Van Hollen
Member of the California State Assembly from the 59th district
In office December 3, 1990 – December 3, 1992
Preceded by	Charles Calderon
Succeeded by	Dick Mountjoy
Personal details
Born	(1958-01-26) January 26, 1958 (age 66) Sacramento, California, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Carolina Reyes Becerra
Children	3
Education	Stanford University (BA, JD)
Occupation	Lawyer politician
Xavier Becerra's voice Xavier Becerra's opening statement before the U.S. Senate on the 2024 HHS budget Recorded March 22, 2023

Xavier Becerra (/hɑːviˈɛər bɪˈsɛrə/ hah-vee-AIR beh-SEHR-ə; Latin American Spanish: [xaˈβjeɾ βeˈsera]; born January 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 25th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services since March 2021. He is the first Latino to hold this position in history.^[1] Becerra previously served as the Attorney General of California from January 2017 until March 2021. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Downtown Los Angeles in Congress from 1993 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Becerra was Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus from 2013 to 2017.^[2]

Born in Sacramento, California, Becerra graduated from Stanford University and received his Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School. He worked as a lawyer at the Legal Assistance Corporation of central Massachusetts, before returning to California in 1986 to work as an administrative assistant for state senator Art Torres. He served as a deputy attorney general in the California Department of Justice from 1987 to 1990 before he was elected to the California State Assembly, where he served one term from 1990 to 1992.

Becerra was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1992. He represented California's 30th congressional district from 1993 to 2003, California's 31st congressional district from 2003 to 2013, and California's 34th congressional district from 2013 to 2017. He served as Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus from 1997 to 1999, Vice Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus from 2009 to 2013, and as a member of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. He was elected Chairman of the U.S. House Democratic Caucus from 2013 to 2017.