A decision inside the Department of Health and Human Services has triggered a political storm, after officials quietly replaced the name displayed on the portrait of a former Biden administration health leader with that individual’s birth name.
According to Fox News, the portrait belongs to Rachel Levine, who served as assistant secretary for health under President Joe Biden and became the first transgender person confirmed by the Senate.
During her tenure, Levine rose to the rank of admiral within the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
For years, her official photo at HHS carried the name “Rachel Levine.”
But following the federal government shutdown, staff discovered that the plaque beneath the portrait now reads “Richard Levine,” the name Levine was given at birth.
HHS confirmed the change and defended it. Spokesperson Andrew Nixon said the agency is aligning internal presentations with what it calls scientific clarity.
“Our priority is ensuring that the information presented internally and externally by HHS reflects gold standard science,” Nixon said. “We remain committed to reversing harmful policies enacted by Levine and ensuring that biological reality guides our approach to public health.”
Levine pushed back, criticizing the decision through both her office and her own remarks to NPR. Adrian Shanker, speaking for Levine, called the move an act “of bigotry against her.”
Levine, in her brief personal statement, dismissed the episode. “I’m not going to comment on this type of petty action,” she told the outlet.
Her tenure in the Biden administration was marked by frequent clashes over transgender medical policy.
Levine repeatedly argued that medical interventions for transgender youth are safe and necessary, insisting in 2023 that “gender-affirming care is medical care. Gender-affirming care is mental health care. Gender-affirming care is literally suicide prevention care.”
She also maintained that there was “no argument” within the medical community over the safety and effectiveness of gender-transition procedures, and she advocated for the use of hormone blockers to prevent minors from “going through the wrong puberty.”
