Jumping ship: HHS secretary’s plans for California governorship already include hiring and spending on campaign
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is preparing his political future after the Biden administration.
Becerra’s reported plans to run for governor of California in 2026 to follow Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) may be more developed than those in the Biden administration thought. The secretary has been having detailed conversations about a gubernatorial campaign and leaving the administration, according to Politico.
Over the past year, Becerra has spent $130,000 on “campaign consultants.” He said he is still focused on his role as health and human services secretary.
“I am secretary of HHS, and by law, I have to be secretary of HHS and nothing else,” Becerra said. “So I’m gonna do my job as best I can.”
However, campaign finance reports show payments made to the Podesta Group in Washington, D.C., a well-known lobbying and public affairs agency. Stephen J. Kaufman, an attorney for the committee “Becerra for Superintendent of Public Instruction 2030,” said that was a “data entry error” and that payments were to go to someone of a similar name: Alexis Podesta of Podesta Company in Sacramento.
“Alexis Podesta has been paid to oversee the committee and manage its operations while Secretary Becerra has been serving in Washington, including payment of ongoing expenses and filing of required campaign reports,” Kaufman said.
Podesta has worked within the California governor’s office under two governors but denies any claims she had contact with Becerra.
Under the Hatch Act, Cabinet members are prohibited from engaging in “partisan political activity,” such as running for a partisan office. Becerra violated the act when he voiced support for Sen. Alex Padilla’s (D-CA) reelection campaign while speaking at an awards gala. More than a dozen officials from the Trump administration violated the act.
An official from the Biden administration said he or she was not aware of Becerra’s plans or any legal implications. Politico reported those in the Biden administration see it unlikely that Becerra would be asked to serve in a second Biden administration, should the president win reelection.
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“I do miss being AG,” he said, because as a constitutional officer, “once you get elected and you get your budget, you’re your own boss, and you do whatever you want, and as much as I’m the secretary of the department … I still have to wait till I hear from the White House on a number of things.”
Becerra represented California in the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2017. He then was California’s attorney general from 2017 to 2021 before working in the Biden administration.
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