Next week, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (February 23) and the Senate Finance Committee (February 24), will hold hearings with Xavier Becerra, President Biden’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Senate Finance committee will either reject the nomination or approve the nomination and send it to the Senate floor. Becerra previously served in Congress as a member of the House of Representatives and currently serves as California’s attorney general. In December 2020, Becerra joined a total of 27 attorneys general in sending a letter to HHS calling for the agency to hold drug manufacturers accountable for their “unlawful” refusal to offer 340B discounts to safety-net providers that use contract pharmacies to serve their patients. Watch the Senate Finance Committee hearing here. Watch the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing here.
