When President Biden appointed Richard "Rachel" Levine as Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services, Levin "made history" as the first transgender person to be confirmed to a Cabinet-Level position by the Senate. The media, of course, ran with that angle, along with the Biden administration's open tolerance and progressive stance.
That also meant they ignored reality: Levine is a man, and a man who potentially took a pretty high-ranking Cabinet position from a woman, mind you.
Now the Department of Health and Human Services is putting Levine's given name, Richard, under his official portrait.
Health and Human Services department changes Rachel Levine’s name to his male name under his official portrait.
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) December 7, 2025
The former Assistant HHS’s Secretary transgender name has been changed to Richard Levine, reflecting his birth name.
HHS said the “priority is to ensure that the… pic.twitter.com/W9HmDR59aD
"The priority is to ensure that the information presented internally and externally reflects gold-standard science," HHS said in a statement.
And there's photographic evidence of the change.
Can confirm: https://t.co/wUml8Iet5M pic.twitter.com/F8jl92oRfU
— Gregory T. Angelo (@gregorytangelo) December 7, 2025
We thought Democrats wanted to follow the science, after all.
This was unnecessary, unhelpful, and mean.
— Hunter DeButts (@BillySullivan7) December 7, 2025
No, actually, it's not. This is a reflection of reality, which is none of those things.
Force people to pretend men can become women — not to mention forcing women to share private spaces and compete against men — is what's mean.
Levin is the man who called women "egg producers" during a visit to an Alaska gender clinic. He sees us as no different than broody hens, apparently.
That we entertained this idiot 😑 https://t.co/IlIa0z9kvO
— Brandi Shweapon (@CathyKell19) December 7, 2025
What's more problematic than the gender issue is how Levin handled COVID during his tenure in Pennsylvania. Like many Democratic officials, he forced nursing homes to take COVID-positive patients, resulting in more deaths. And Levine knew this because he removed his mother from such a facility. He also ordered Pennsylvania residents to mask up in their own homes for Thanksgiving.
Those things alone were disqualifying, of course, but the Biden administration wanted to collect the "Trans Cabinet Member" merit badge and nominated Levine for HHS anyway.