NEW: Biden has leaned a lot on former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy for his healthcare & coronavirus planning. Now the 43-year-old doctor is on the short list to lead HHS, 8 people close to the transition told @Politicsinsider ($) by @leonardkl ow.ly/l2LU50Cptmf
Three of those sources said they'd been surprised Biden's team is considering Murthy for the job, given his lack of experience crafting policy or overseeing a major organization.
Despite his soft-spoken nature, Murthy has tangled with political controversies over the last decade — including with the nation's most powerful gun lobby — that could come back to haunt him.
Murthy, who has described himself as the "grandson of a poor farmer from India," founded the group Doctors for Obama in 2008 to help elect Barack Obama to the White House.
After Obama's win, Doctors for Obama rebranded as Doctors for America and worked closely with the influential Democratic-aligned group Center for American Progress to push for the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010.
Murthy also irked Republicans and red-state Democrats when he tweeted in 2012 that "guns are a health care issue" and in 2013 after Doctors for America proposed a list of gun-control policies to Congress.
People who have worked close to or alongside Murthy said he's a committed & compassionate physician whose healthcare positions shouldn't be viewed as political. They cite the fact several medical associations advocate for gun control measures as a way to reduce injury & death.
Still, that view could make it harder for Murthy to get past pro-gun Senate Republicans if they retain their control of the chamber after Georgia's January 5 runoffs.
"He's open-minded and a learner," said Donald Berwick, the former administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services during the Obama administration. "He knows he doesn't know everything and that he needs to listen carefully, and that's what he does."
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