{"id":2228003,"date":"2024-04-23T10:08:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-23T14:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jumping-ship-hhs-secretarys-plans-for-california-governorship-already-include-hiring-and-spending-on-campaign\/"},"modified":"2024-04-23T10:08:02","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T14:08:02","slug":"jumping-ship-hhs-secretarys-plans-for-california-governorship-already-include-hiring-and-spending-on-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jumping-ship-hhs-secretarys-plans-for-california-governorship-already-include-hiring-and-spending-on-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Jumping ship: HHS secretary\u2019s plans for California governorship already include hiring and spending on campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjumping-ship-hhs-secretarys-plans-for-california-governorship-already-include-hiring-and-spending-on-campaign%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2228003&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Health and Human Services Secretary<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/xavier-becerra\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title> Xavier Becerra <\/a>is preparing his political future after the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Biden<\/a> administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Becerra\u2019s reported plans to run for governor of California in 2026 to follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/gavin-newsom\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/a> (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, <a href=\"http:\/\/politico.com\/news\/2024\/04\/23\/xavier-becerra-biden-administration-future-00153737?nname=playbook&#038;nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&#038;nrid=849aba7f-f4d5-44d1-8dff-3ca5fb878b65&#038;nlid=630318(opens%20in%20a%20new%20tab)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>according<\/a> to <em>Politico<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Over the past year, Becerra has spent $130,000 on \u201ccampaign consultants.\u201d He said he is still focused on his role as health and human services secretary.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am secretary of HHS, and by law, I have to be secretary of HHS and nothing else,\u201d Becerra said. \u201cSo I\u2019m gonna do my job as best I can.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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 \u201cBecerra for Superintendent of Public Instruction 2030,\u201d said that was a \u201cdata entry error\u201d and that payments were to go to someone of a similar name: Alexis Podesta of Podesta Company in Sacramento.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlexis 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,\u201d Kaufman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Podesta has worked within the California governor\u2019s office under two governors but denies any claims she had contact with Becerra.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Under the <a href=\"https:\/\/osc.gov\/Documents\/Outreach%20and%20Training\/Handouts\/A%20Guide%20to%20the%20Hatch%20Act%20for%20Federal%20Employees.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Hatch Act<\/a>, Cabinet members are prohibited from engaging in \u201cpartisan political activity,\u201d such as running for a partisan office. Becerra violated the act when he voiced support for Sen. Alex Padilla\u2019s (D-CA) reelection campaign while speaking at an awards gala. More than a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/what-is-the-hatch-act-violations-examples-penalty-government\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>dozen officials<\/a> from the Trump administration violated the act.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>An official from the Biden administration said he or she was not aware of Becerra\u2019s plans or any legal implications. <em>Politico<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do miss being AG,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/missionlocal.org\/2024\/04\/you-got-spoiled-by-covid-hhs-secretary-xavier-becerra-appears-in-mission-ahead-of-potential-run-for-governor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>he said, because as a constitutional officer<\/a>, \u201conce you get elected and you get your budget, you\u2019re your own boss, and you do whatever you want, and as much as I\u2019m the secretary of the department \u2026 I still have to wait till I hear from the White House on a number of things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Becerra represented California in the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2017. He then was California\u2019s attorney general from 2017 to 2021 before working in the Biden administration.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is preparing his political future after the Biden administration.\u00a0 Becerra\u2019s 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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2910,"featured_media":2228004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Health-and-Human-Services-Secretary-Xavier-Becerra-1024x594.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2228003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Health-and-Human-Services-Secretary-Xavier-Becerra-1024x594.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2910"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2228003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2228004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2228003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2228003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2228003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}