- Well, welcome folks, tothis edition of The 700 Club.

The worst of the worst.

That's what pro-life advocates

think of President Biden'slatest cabinet pick.

Xavier Becerra is not a doctor,

nor does he have anyexperience in public health,

so why is he the President's choice

to head the Department ofHealth and Human Services?

And what does his nominationsay about Joe Biden himself?

CBN's White Housecorrespondent, Ben Kennedy,

has the latest.

- To build back a prosperous America,

we need a healthy America.

- [Ben] Xavier Becerra comes to this role

after more than 20 years in Congress,

and succeeding Kamala Harris

as California Attorney General.

Now he's preparing for his new role

in leading the agency most involved

with regulating abortion.

That worries pro-life advocates.

- If we had a list of theworst people to choose,

certainly Xavier Becerra wouldbe at the top of the list.

- [Ben] Nance calls Becerraa pro-abortion activist

based on his court cases.

- There's the famous Supreme Court case

of NIFLA versus Becerra,

in which Xavier Becerrawas trying to force

crisis pregnancy centersto promote abortion.

We had to take that case allthe way to the Supreme Court.

- [Ben] The Little Sisters of the Poor

also took their case to court,

after Becerra tried tostand in the way of them

wanting to not pay forabortion causing contraceptives

in their health plans.

Becerra also supportedcharging undercover journalist

David Daleiden with 10 felony counts,

stemming from his 2015 videotape

exposing Planned Parenthood'salleged involvement

in the trafficking ofaborted baby body parts.

Critics have lined upto fight the nomination.

In a tweet, Senator Tom Cotton said,

"Becerra spent his careerattacking pro-life Americans."

Congressman Dan Crenshaw agreed,

calling Becerra "the worstpossible cabinet choice."

The Susan B. Anthony List went further,

saying "Becerra isaggressively pro-abortion

"and a foe of free speech."

And not all in Biden's ownparty might be on board

with the appointment.

Kristen Day of Democratsfor Life tells CBN News

some congressional Democrats will fight

some of the administration'spro-abortion policies.

- [Woman] He's not a doctor.

- [Ben] Becerra's qualificationsare also in question,

with critics saying the 62-year-old

is not a medical professional,

and has no public health experience.

The new Commander inChief disagrees though,

highlighting Becerra'seffort on healthcare

and fighting to protectthe Affordable Care Act.

Rick Pollack, president and CEO

of the American Hospital Association,

calls Becerra "a champion for affordable

health access and coverage,"

and "the right person to lead the nation

"through the pandemic."

- Crisis tested, definedby a deep sense of duty,

honor, and patriotism.

Already ready to jump in,

and they're gonna be ready on day one

to spare not a single effort

to get this pandemic under control.

- Given the current COVID picture,

combined with Democratsbarely controlling the Senate,

Becerra is expected to be confirmed

despite likely Republican opposition

over issues like abortion.

Ben Kennedy, CBN News, Washington.

- Well, we've got him as President,

and you're gonna have to live with it

unless something dramatic happens.

Well, in other news,

another of President Biden's nominees

is in trouble with the Senate.

Well, who's opposing her,

and why did she delete morethan a thousand tweets,

stuff she'd said in the past

she doesn't want to see in the public eye?

John Jessup has more from CBNNews Bureau in Washington.

- Thanks Pat, NeeraTanden, Biden's pick for

White House Budget Director,

may be his first nominee to be defeated.

Tanden needs 50 votes inthe evenly divided Senate,

but Republican senators Mitt Romney

and Susan Collins oppose her nomination,

as well as West VirginiaDemocrat, Joe Manchin.

In her hearings, Tanden apologized

for attacking Republicans onsocial media in recent years,

like calling Senator Tom Cotton a fraud

and saying that vampires have more heart

than Senator Ted Cruz.

- President Biden hastalked a lot about tone.

You walk into this being hired

with a very, very different tone.

- I know it's on me todemonstrate to this committee,

and to Republican membersand Democratic members,

I can work with anyone, and it's--

That burden is on my shoulders,

and it is one that I plan to take on.

- Tanden deleted morethan a thousand tweets

from her account priorto last week's hearing.

Well, the House Budget Committee approved

the President's $1.9 trillionCOVID relief bill Monday,

setting the stage for a vote

in the full House later this week.

The two parties disagree

on the size of the spending package.

The nearly $2 trillion price tag includes

$1400 stimulus checks for most Americans,

and an extension of $400 weekly

federal unemployment benefits,

but Republicans object tomany of the bill's provisions,

leading to this challengefrom the President.

- Let me ask them, whatwould they have me cut?

What would they have me leave out?

- [John] One provisionRepublicans object to,

money to make schoolssafer during the pandemic,

but that funding is not conditioned

on schools reopening.

- This idea that Washingtonshould be giving out

$100-plus million, a billion,of new money to schools

and not even requiring them to reopen,

that's an insult to those children

who are demanding thatthey go back to school.

- A Wall Street Journaleditorial estimates

that only about $825 billion of the bill

relates to pandemic relief,and the remaining trillion

is a combination of bailouts,

expanding progressiveprograms, and outright pork.

Republican Nancy Mace tweetedthat the bill includes

$86 billion in union pension bailouts,

$35 billion in a bailout for Obamacare,

a 1.5 billion Amtrak bailout,

and a $1 billion bailoutin foreign food aid.

Mace called the bill a liberal blowout,

and said stop calling it COVID relief.

Well, President Biden and the nation

paused to remember the 500,000 Americans

lost to the coronavirus in the past year.

That number is more thandouble the highest estimates

from last spring.

The President payingtribute to the victims

at the White House.

- We often hear peopledescribed as ordinary Americans.

There's no such thing.

There's nothing ordinary about them.

The people we lost were extraordinary.

- [John] As the nationgrieves, there is hope.

The average daily numberof cases and deaths

are declining and more Americans

are getting their vaccines.

As of this weekend, morethan 13% of Americans

have received at least onedose of a coronavirus vaccine.

And in another positivesign, Johnson & Johnson says

they'll deliver 20million single shot doses

by the end of March, and if they get that

FDA emergency authorization, Pat,

which could happen asearly as this weekend.

- You know, the thing that worries me

and should worry you is that the Democrats

always want to outline the negatives.

They always want to keepus in a state of panic,

and this country is sufferingbecause of lockdowns,

arbitrary lockdowns,shutdowns, put in place by--

In most places by Democrat governors.

We cannot stand this kind of thing,

and the good news is thatthe cases are declining,

and a lot of other things are happening,

the vaccines coming and so forth,

and we're getting so-called herd immunity.

So when you look at thatterrible spending bill,

I'm asking our analysts tomorrow

to bring us what it's going to be.

If the debt we pay

is up by a quarter of apercent, a half a percent,

and one percent, whatwill it do to the budget?

It is unbelievable we owe so much money,

and to pump all that moneyout, a billion dollars

for overseas relief,

and so much for postal workers,

and so much to bail out thecities that are failing,

I mean, it's just ridiculous.

Of course there are people that need help,

and we oughta give them some help,

but just give it to thosewho are affected by COVID

and who need a bailout quickly,

and the idea of giving peoplea couple thousand dollars

is not a bad idea, but thenlet's cut it off there.

Let's not make it a Christmas tree,

but that's what happensconstantly in Washington.

They don't act like it's their money.

It's your money they're spending,

but it's your children and grandchildren

who are gonna have to pay it back.

John?

- Pat, frontline workershave been a vital part

of the fight against the pandemic.

Last year, as the virusdevastated New York City,

we introduced you to a nursewho sailed from there to--

Who sailed there, rather,from Virginia, to help out.

Since then, Rachel Hartley has kept moving

from hospital to hospital, in large part

because she feels it'sher calling from God.

CBN's Eric Philips has this update.

- Traveling nurses like Rachel Hartley

get assignments where help is needed most.

For nearly a year now,that has put her in contact

with countless COVID-19 patients,

literally from coast to coast.

- Thinking back to last year,in April when we set sail,

having no idea we wouldstill be doing this

almost a year later, so you know,

the future's so unpredictable,

but it's in the Lord's hands,

and we're just happyto be following along.

- [Eric] Following God'sleading has kept Rachel Hartley

and her husband Taylor on the road,

and sometimes on the water.

We first talked to her last year,

after she had taken herskills as an ICU nurse

to NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn.

Back then she said itwas a rude awakening.

- Things, especially in the hospital,

were just chaotic.

There were so many patients,

so many people dying,and it was just really

a really tough environment to walk into.

- [Eric] Thankfully, shesays, the grace of God

allowed her to press on.

After leaving New York,Rachel accepted assignments

in Connecticut, the U.S. Virgin Islands,

Toledo, Ohio, and now L.A.

- The Lord definitely paved the way for us

and has blessed us.

- [Eric] She says while compensated well,

the mental and physical price is high.

Both she and her husbandcame down with COVID

while in Toledo.

Even then, she believesGod's hand was at work.

- My symptoms really werejust a minor headache

and back pain for a day,

and Taylor's symptoms, then,went away within 24 hours,

so I think the first is the sovereignty

and the grace of God,you know, protected me

through everything and you know,

given that, I think PPE is so helpful.

- [Eric] After nearly ayear, and five assignments,

the most difficult element still remains.

- Overall, the hardest part is definitely

the amount of deaths that I've seen.

Coming to L.A. and seeing their surge,

and just being reminded ofwhat happened in New York,

you know, and being likeoh, this is happening

all over again, I can't believe it.

But it has caused me togrow so much, you know,

in my faith, in reliance on the Lord,

and you know, through thegrace of my husband as well.

- [Eric] Rachel says she knows it's been

a difficult year for everyone,

and offers this word ofencouragement from the front lines.

- I encourage, you know, people to really

look back to the science of mask wearing

and social distancing,

and in one sense don'tgo overboard either,

because you know, we need to get outside,

and we need to get fresh air and exercise,

and we need to be incommunity with people,

and there's a way to do that safely.

- Rachel plans to take only one more

travel assignment after L.A.

Then she plans to pursue ajob as a nurse practitioner,

a degree she completedduring this past busy year.

While she has found her current work

to be incredibly fulfilling,

she and her husband hopeto be a bit more settled

by this time next year.

Eric Philips, CBN News.

- Grateful for Rachel andthe millions of others

of medical and frontline workers.

Terry, back to you.

- Thanks so much, quite a young woman.