US President-elect Joe Biden has appointed transgender Rachel Levine as Assistant Secretary of Health, The Washington Post reported on January 19.
Levine will become the first transgender person to hold a federal office with Senate confirmation.
Commenting on Levine’s appointment, Biden noted that she will bring the “stable leadership and expertise” needed to lead Americans through the COVID pandemic, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity.
In 2015, Levine was nominated by Governor-elect Tom Wolfe as General Physician of Pennsylvania. She held this post until 2017. In July 2017, Governor Wolff named Levine as the state’s health minister, and she also leads public health agencies to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier, in November 2020, Biden presented candidates for key positions in his administration.
After the November elections, it became known that the representative of the Democratic Party, Sarah McBride, became the first transgender person in US history to be elected to the Senate of any of the states.