Democrats muscle ahead with Biden's health secretary pick

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate voted on Thursday to advance President Joe Biden’s nominee for health secretary as Democrats muscled past Republican opposition using a new procedure put in place to avoid gridlock in the evenly divided Senate.

The Senate Finance Committee split along party lines, 14-14, earlier this month on the nomination of Xavier Becerra. While a tie vote in the past has often stalled a nomination, it proved to be more of a speed bump for Democrats than a stop sign under the Senate's new rules.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., forced a vote to discharge Becerra's nomination Thursday that succeeded 51-48. The vote clears the way for floor debate on confirming him to the position.

“I’m perplexed that none of my Republican colleagues would vote for him,” Schumer said before the vote. “He’s a capable man. He’s worked hard to make sure that people get health care.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., noted that Biden’s prior Cabinet nominees had so far received bipartisan support.

“There’s a reason Mr. Becerra could not get one single Republican vote to move out of committee,” McConnell said. “It’s because he’s such a thoroughly partisan actor with so little subject matter expertise.”

The action puts Biden one step closer to filling the top position at the Department of Health and Human Services, a department that is playing a key role in the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, was the lone Republican to vote for advancing Becerra's nomination.

Becerra now serves as California’s attorney general and previously represented the Los Angeles area for more than 20 years in the U.S. House. As attorney general, he specialized in trying to block Trump administration...