Biden picks transgender woman as assistant health secretary

Washington: President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be his assistant secretary of health, leaving her poised to become the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the US Senate.

A pediatrician and former Pennsylvania physician general, Levine was appointed to her current post by Democratic Gov Tom Wolf in 2017, making her one of the few transgender people serving in elected or appointed positions nationwide. She won past confirmation by the Republican-majority Pennsylvania Senate and has emerged as the public face of the state's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"Dr. Rachel Levine will bring the steady leadership and essential expertise we need to get people through this pandemic — no matter their zip code, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability — and meet the public health needs of our country in this critical moment and beyond," Biden said in a statement.

"She is a historic and deeply qualified choice to help lead our administration's health efforts." A graduate of Harvard and of Tulane Medical School, Levine is president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. She's written in the past on the opioid crisis, medical marijuana, adolescent medicine, eating disorders and LGBTQ medicine.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has acknowledged the challenges that lie ahead for Joe Biden when he will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on Wednesday, saying "it is not going to be easy." Biden enters the White House on January 20 with the top challenge to lift the country from the devastation of a raging pandemic that has killed more than 398,000 Americans and thrown millions into economic distress.

"We're going into Wednesday knowing that we're ready to do the work, and we've got a lot of work to do. It's not going to be easy," Harris told reporters at Martha's Table in Anacostia here on Monday, observing the National Day of Service.

Every year on the third Monday in January, Americans honour the slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., who in the 1950s and 1960s organised non-violent protests for Black equality and voting rights. The holiday traditionally features people commemorating King's work by participating in community service projects.