Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra advised students to approach the current political climate as a “teaching moment” at a moderated Q&A last Thursday.
When asked about his thoughts on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was sworn in on Thursday as Secretary of HHS and has been widely criticized for making false medical claims, Becerra said execution and readiness are most important, regardless of views.
The Q&A was hosted by the Stanford Political Union (SPU) in Bishop Auditorium and moderated by SPU member Colin Weis ’28.
Becerra was the HHS Secretary under the Biden administration. During his term, he focused on access and reducing disparities in health care.
According to Becerra, he was “criticized” because he “wasn’t a physician” when he became HHS secretary. However, when running the HHS, Becerra found that readiness is critical. He cited the rise of bird flu and potential cyberattacks in healthcare as things the HHS secretary should be prepared for.
“To the person who is going to run the seventh largest budget in the world, I don’t care who you are — execute,” Becerra said. The HHS budget was $1.7 trillion in fiscal year 2024, representing 5.85% of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).
Becerra criticized President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) cuts in federally funded research and said that such actions were “a lot of bark” and wouldn’t last. Stanford is expected to lose $160 million in NIH funding per year.
In Trump’s executive order to withdraw from WHO, he cited its “mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic,” “failure to adopt urgently needed reforms,” “inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states” and demand of “unfairly onerous payments from the United States.”
“Withdrawing [from WHO] is a sin. It’s more than a sin. But you’ll find that out, because diseases don’t stay within borders as we define them,” Becerra said. He added that the U.S. “moves the world” and makes much of the medical progress in other countries possible.
“[The withdrawal is] short sighted. I don’t think it’ll last,” Becerra said.
Weis wrote to The Daily that he agreed with Becerra regarding the importance of readiness when running the HHS, but that “the views of a cabinet member are still important as those will guide their actions once they assume office.” Weis wrote that even if Trump’s policies do not last long, they still “could have long term consequences.”
When asked about the NIH funding cuts, Becerra emphasized the value of biomedical research, saying that research is conducive to invention, therapy and treatment.
“It doesn’t seem to me to be moving the dial in the right direction, but we’ll see,” Becerra said. “A dollar delay is a medical treatment delay.”
Becerra encouraged students who consider the current political climate dark to be hopeful. “Learn from this. This is a great experience. I always tell people, the greatest opportunity to change your mind is when there’s complete chaos,” he said.
Sebastian Karl Hazlett ’28, who attended the event, was “quite relieved to see that someone else figured out the bright side.” “[Becerra] was remarkably calm given the [political] circumstances,” Hazlett said.
“You guys are going to be very powerful,” Becerra said, addressing the medical students. “You need to stand up to some of those voices in your profession that are peddling their opinions, not science.”