By James Bradley
May 15, 2026, COMMENTARY—Pull up a strong cup of black coffee, while we talk about Xavier Becerra.
Recent primary election polls for the California gubernatorial race have Xavier Becerra positioned at first or second place. Personally, the astonishing presumption of these polls highlights Becerra’s brash and arrogant demeanor. Does Xavier Becerra, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary under Biden really think he can get away with what he did or failed to do during COVID-19? Or, are the people of California really not paying attention?
Xavier Becerra, under the Biden Administration, was positioned as the key figurehead of the welfare and health care policies of the entire nation. He took that role during one of the most pivotal and trying periods within US history, the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Organizations such as the CDC and NIH operated under his direction. He oversaw the NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) department, which advises on work safety protocols that were implemented through OSHA during COVID, including work test and vaccine mandates.
Becerra had the opportunity to stamp his name within the US history books as the person at the helm of the US response to COVID-19. Instead, Becerra’s name was missing. He wasn’t even mentioned among the media regulars during that time, like Fauci and Walensky. Despite Becerra’s claim to bringing “real” leadership to California as governor, he either ran away from his role as HHS Secretary. Or, he worked in the background allowing others to take the fall for the policies he was responsible for advising on and executing. Here is a list of federal cases related to COVID-19, which involved Becerra’s sign off or advice of the departments that he oversaw:
**Biden v. Missouri (consolidated with Becerra v. Louisiana)**: case related to required COVID-19 vaccines for healthcare workers in Medicare/Medicaid facilities even for those with medical/religious exemptions. The case resulted in a wave of medical professionals suspended or fired.
**National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) v. OSHA** (Jan. 13, 2022): case related to employer enforced vaccine or test policies.
**Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate (Executive Order 14042)**: Case requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for federal contractors.
These policies sparked employee walkouts, like the commercial pilot walkout of 2021. They also impacted requirements for COVID-19 vaccinations for college athletes during that time.
**Federal Employee Vaccine Mandate (Executive Order 14043)**: **Feds for Medical Freedom v. Biden** (S.D. Tex., then Fifth Circuit): case related to required COVID-19 vaccines for federal employees, including military personnel. This resulted in many service men and women forced to leave their roles, some temporarily losing their pensions during the time the of mandates.
Becerra’s Role in the Fight for Parental Rights During the Biden Administration
Make your next gulp of strong coffee a big one. It gets worse.
For those of you who are concerned or are aware of the battle over parental rights and gender affirmative care, it was quietly covered under the media that the HHS, now under RFK, had to allow states to sue HHS for gender affirmation policies. Isn’t this weird? Why was this allowed?
Well, it is because to side-step the 14th Amendment which preserves rights of parents (unless they are proven unfit via due process), the US HHS Department under Becerra’s leadership instituted a sweeping gender affirmation protocol. This protocol forced the hands of the entire medical industry to follow affirmation policies. It’s broad and sweeping application extended into welfare support systems, like CPS, social services, etc. It was applicable not only for federal programs but also for organizations with programs funded by federal dollars. This was done using our tax dollars. For those of you advocating for parental rights, we are using our tax dollars in court to argue what Becerra did was illegal.
For California and Beyond
As you take your last strong gulp of coffee, consider these things. California remains politically polarized. When will we Californians stop allowing the politicians to direct our civic lives in ways we never wanted just because of political party allegiance? Phrases like “Trump bad” and “liberal insanity” are not enough to re-vitalize our state. We must rely on what we as voters believe is best—the state and national constitutions still give us that power.
For me personally, this responsibility became very clear during the recent COVID-19 whistleblower committee hearing that occurred in the Senate this week. A CIA whistleblower, with no political intentions and only concerns over public transparency came to speak to our US Senators. No Democratic Senator was present. As an independent voter, I thought to myself, “Why would my Democratic Senator think that I, as a constituent, wouldn’t be interested in at least hearing what this whistleblower had to say?” The COVID-19 pandemic affected everyone from all parties.
To those who do not live in California, the inconvenient truth is that California still has the largest number of representatives in the US House of Representatives, based on the 2020 Census. The US House is the main body of government responsible for drafting the national budget. It would help the national effort to have help making California less partisan and uni-party ruled.
Don’t let Becerra get away with what happened to our nation under his watch.