43 Facts About Xavier Becerra

Xavier Becerra is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 25th United States secretary of health and human services since March 2021.

Xavier Becerra was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Downtown Los Angeles in Congress from 1993 to 2017.

Xavier Becerra 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.

Xavier Becerra 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.

Xavier Becerra was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1992.

Xavier Becerra 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.

Xavier Becerra 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.

Xavier Becerra's father was born in the US and raised in Tijuana, Mexico, and his mother was from Guadalajara.

Xavier Becerra studied abroad at the University of Salamanca in Salamanca, Spain, from 1978 to 1979, before earning his Bachelor of Arts in economics from Stanford University in 1980, becoming the first person in his family to graduate from college.

Xavier Becerra received his Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School in 1984, and was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1985.

Xavier Becerra began his career as a lawyer, working on cases involving individuals who had mental disorders for the Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts.

Xavier Becerra worked as an administrative assistant for California state senator Art Torres in 1986.

Xavier Becerra served as a deputy attorney general in the California Department of Justice under Attorney General John Van de Kamp from 1987 to 1990.

Xavier Becerra served one term in the State Assembly, representing California's 59th district, from 1990 to 1992.

Xavier Becerra entered the race for the seat, which had been renumbered as the 30th district after redistricting.

Xavier Becerra's district was renumbered as the 31st district after the 2000 census.

Xavier Becerra was a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, of which he served as chairman during the 105th Congress.

Xavier Becerra voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 because he "wanted to see direct protections for responsible homeowners" in the bill.

Xavier Becerra was appointed assistant to the Speaker of the House for the 110th Congress.

Xavier Becerra successfully ran for a second term as Vice-Chair in 2011 to serve during the 112th Congress.

Xavier Becerra was appointed to serve on the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform on March 24,2010.

Xavier Becerra was selected to serve on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction on August 11,2011.

Xavier Becerra had a seat on the House Ways and Means Committee and was the first Latino to serve on the committee.

Xavier Becerra voted for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.

Xavier Becerra argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic religious order, should be required to provide birth control services under the Affordable Care Act.

In late 2020, arguing that the prosecution would discourage pregnant women from obtaining addiction treatment, Xavier Becerra requested that the Supreme Court of California block the murder prosecution of a woman who had consumed methamphetamine during her pregnancy, resulting in a stillbirth.

In 2008, Xavier Becerra was considered for the position of US Trade Representative in the administration of President-elect Obama.

Xavier Becerra had endorsed then-Senator Barack Obama for president on January 27,2008.

Xavier Becerra was on the shortlist of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton for the vice presidential nomination in 2016.

Xavier Becerra accepted Governor Jerry Brown's offer to be the attorney general of California on December 1,2016.

Xavier Becerra succeeded Kamala Harris, who was elected to the United States Senate.

Xavier Becerra was sworn in January 24,2017, becoming the first Latino to serve as California's attorney general.

In 2018, Xavier Becerra created an environmental justice branch of the California Department of Justice.

Xavier Becerra brought fourteen felony charges against Center for Medical Progress activists for recording fourteen videos, and one felony charge for conspiring to invade privacy, on March 28,2017.

In 2019, Xavier Becerra threatened "legal action" against reporters who had received records of California law enforcement officers who had been convicted of crimes during the past decade.

In December 2020, Xavier Becerra was faulted by state district attorneys for not taking leadership to help stop unemployment fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic, in what was described as the "biggest taxpayer fraud in California history".

California officials and agencies, including Xavier Becerra, filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management in January 2020.

On December 9,2020, it was reported that Xavier Becerra's office had joined 47 other states and the Federal Trade Commission in an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook, Inc, headquartered in California.

Xavier Becerra's nomination was deadlocked by the Senate's Finance Committee on March 10,2021.

On March 22,2021, Xavier Becerra was sworn in to be the new secretary.

On October 6,2022, Xavier Becerra was tasked by President Biden with expeditiously reviewing the Schedule I classification of Cannabis.

Xavier Becerra is married to physician Carolina Reyes, and they have three daughters.

Xavier Becerra is a member of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank, based in Washington, DC Becerra is Roman Catholic.