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An announcement could be made as early as next week, officials said, although the timing of the decision will also depend on the designation of other positions. A spokeswoman for the transition declined to comment.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services will play a central role in the coronavirus pandemic, which has raised her in the eye of transition Biden given her experience leading the fight in New Mexico.
As Biden faced considerable pressure to appoint Lujan Grisham as Secretary of Health and Human Services, a Biden adviser said her credentials put her at the top of the list to run the sprawling agency – long before the start of the public lobbying campaign. She has served as New Mexico’s Secretary of Health, Congressman, and Governor.
“She understands the levers of government, she understands politics and understands how to run a large bureaucracy like HHS,” a former Department of Health and Human Services official told CNN, adding that Lujan Grisham was the most qualified candidate. in the realm of suitors. .
Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus publicly urged Biden to choose Lujan Grisham, sending a letter to Biden’s transition team lobbying for his selection.
“While I am extremely honored and flattered that my colleagues can see the work I do in the field and know that I have 40 years of complete experience in the health field, I strive to ensure that I’m saving lives in New Mexico, ”Lujan Grisham told CNN’s Don Lemon on“ CNN Tonight ”Tuesday when asked if she was being selected for the role.
Lujan Grisham was also among the candidates selected by the Biden campaign over the summer when seeking the vice-presidency.
She was pushed to focus on health care because her sister, Kimberly, was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of 2 and died of the disease almost two decades later at age 21. aneurysm in 2004.
Lujan Grisham said her experiences with her sister and the resulting debt to her family due to her illness and treatment “inspired” her to dedicate her life to improving affordable health care.
Dr Vivek Murthy, a key advisor to Biden on the coronavirus and a former surgeon general, has fallen out of contention for the role of HHS secretary, according to sources familiar with the matter. He has expressed interest in leading the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is not a Senate confirmed position.
In 2014, Murthy faced a brutal battle of confirmation to become a surgeon general, largely because of his comments on gun control. His confirmation languished for months, with three Democrats ultimately voting against him, including Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia. The other two, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana, have since been defeated.
Dr Nicole Lurie, who also advised the Biden campaign, is also considered a candidate for the CDC leadership, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Inheriting Trump’s Coronavirus Response
If Lujan Grisham is selected and confirmed as HHS secretary, she would lead the agency’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and inherit the Trump administration’s plans to distribute the coronavirus vaccine, which are expected to begin this month- this.
Shortly after its conception, members of Biden’s newly appointed coronavirus task force reached out to health groups and medical experts to find out how to create a ‘top-down’ vaccine distribution plan that would put responsibility on the federal government. , rather than states. But these experts fear that any interruption of the program after its launch could create widespread chaos and, ultimately, affect hundreds of thousands of people.
Biden’s transition team has contacted state officials across the country, asking what the new administration could do to provide a better coronavirus response.
Some states expressed concern about dwindling personal protective equipment, while others focused on what exactly the vaccine distribution plan would look like. According to several officials, Biden’s team said stepping up testing remains one of their immediate priorities.
According to sources in at least two of those conversations, officials discussed what a national Covid response would look like, with Biden’s team expressing interest in the idea.
While the Trump administration has been criticized for its lack of a coherent federal response to the coronavirus, many state officials fear that it is now too late to change course and try to implement any kind of strategy in the world. countrywide. Many states have finally figured out how to work with their local jurisdictions to implement their response, and they fear that radical change will take time and be ineffective.
In a Monday call with the White House, governors received a new schedule for vaccine distribution, but state officials across the country say they still lack basic information on the distribution of the vaccine. vaccines, including who will pay for the distribution and how many doses they receive. The lack of information from the administration made it difficult for states to communicate to local courts.
CNN’s Kate Sullivan contributed to this story.
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