Senate confirms Rachel Levine as assistant health secretary, 1st transgender official confirmed

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Dr. Rachel Levine, who served most recently as Pennsylvania's health secretary, as assistant secretary of health. The vote was 52 to 48, with Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) joining all 50 members of the Democratic caucus to back Levine, the first openly transgender official to win Senate confirmation and now the highest-ranking transgender person to serve in the federal government. Levine, 63, is a pediatrician who was Pennsylvania's...