Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty
The Biden administration is quietly mounting a defense of an administration official who has become the primary target of aggressive attacks by Republicans who see in her a focal point for the culture wars over transgender rights.
Dr. Rachel Levine, the assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, has largely been focused on disparities in healthcare equity since her confirmation in March 2021. In her position, a traditionally low-profile post in the federal bureaucracy, she has focused on access to care, standards of care and, more recently, women’s access to reproductive care in the wake of Dobbs. But her status as a transgender woman—and her public support for LGBTQ healthcare equity—has made her an increasing target for transphobic attacks by conservative media outlets, television personalities and elected officials.
“Dr. Levine is a widely respected public health official, and the intention is to build her up,” said one administration official who was not authorized to speak on the matter, “not to debase her and ourselves by engaging with people who are truly beneath contempt.”