Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra is under fire for what critics say is a lack of leadership as the Biden administration wrestles with the direction of its COVID-19 response.
Tasked with running the sprawling agency primarily responsible for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the day-to-day administration of the nation's unwieldy health system, Becerra is supposed to corral the differing health factions into a unified message on the pandemic.
But outside health experts and former officials said he's taken a back seat, ceding his authority to others, including the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
As administration health officials face criticism for confusing messages and guidance on topics ranging from masks to booster shots to isolation time, critics said there's a lack of coordinated communication among public health agencies, and part of the problem is the low profile of the HHS secretary.
Public health messaging during a pandemic is complicated enough, but experts say the Biden administration as a whole needs to be better at making clear that the situation is evolving constantly.
"Of all the HHS secretaries we've had, at least in the last multiple administrations, we've never had one that was a ghost when it came to a public health crisis. That's what we have now: an invisible HHS secretary. Just when we need that person the most," said Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute.
Becerra's spokesperson, Sarah Lovenheim, the assistant secretary for public affairs, disputed the assertion that Becerra has not been a leader during the pandemic.
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