Biden Nominee Becomes First Senate-Confirmed Openly Transgender Official

Rachel Levine, nominee for assistant secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies before her confirmation hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee in Washington on Feb. 25, 2021. Caroline Brehman/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Rachel Levine to a top post in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), making the doctor the first openly transgender person to get Senate confirmation.

Levine, previously Pennsylvania’s health secretary, will be assistant secretary for health in HHS.