President Trump’s nominees to head the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared a key Senate committee largely along party lines Thursday, paving the way for a full floor vote to confirm them.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya’s nomination to be NIH director in a 12-11 vote and backed Dr. Martin Makary’s bid to be FDA commissioner in a 14-9 vote.
Both men are now expected to breeze through a full-fledged Senate confirmation vote within days, as Trump rounds out his public health team.
Senate HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who has been wary of the vaccine skepticism espoused by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., lauded Bhattacharya and Makary. HHS oversees the FDA and NIH.
“Dr. Bhattacharya committed to promoting free and open debate at the agency, allowing all viewpoints to find the best outcome for Americans’ health,” Cassidy said ahead of the committee’s vote Thursday.
“He also discussed modernizing NIH, empowering scientists to find the next lifesaving medical breakthrough.”
Cassidy also commended Makary, who had drawn the backing of two Democrats on the panel — Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and John Hickenlooper (D-Col.) — for his interest in combating chronic diseases.
Bhattacharya had grown to national prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic for raising concerns about government-imposed lockdowns and mask mandates. At the time, he was an epidemiologist at Stanford University.
The NIH director designate’s Twitter account was put on the platform’s “trends blacklist,” amid pressure from the Biden administration, according to revelations from the so-called “Twitter Files.”
During his conversations with the Senate HELP Committee, Bhattacharya stressed the need for humility when it comes to scientific research.
“Science should be an engine for freedom,” Bhattacharya said during the hearing last week. “Not something where it stands on top of society and says, ‘You must do this, this or this, or else.’”
NIH had a roughly $48 billion budget last fiscal year and oversees about half a dozen sub-agencies that provide public funding for medical research.
The agency has been subject to controversy due to the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) push to impose a 15% cap on overhead costs on grants, which it estimated could save $4 billion annually.
“Dr. Makary committed to promoting medical innovation while upholding FDA’s gold standard of review, so Americans can benefit from the latest lifesaving medicines and devices,” Cassidy said.
“He emphasized the need to address obesity and chronic disease, in collaboration with other administration officials.”
Combating the surge of chronic diseases in the US has been a top priority of Kennedy and the Trump administration. Makary told senators he wanted the FDA to help advance that cause.
“Half of our nation’s children are sick and nobody has really been doing anything meaningful on this front until we have gotten new momentum and enthusiasm from Secretary Kennedy and President Trump to finally address the root causes of these diseases,” he said during a hearing this month.
Senate Republicans have been hustling to approve Trump’s key picks.
Last week, they confirmed Education Secretary Linda McMahon, which means that 21 of 22 cabinet slots set by Trump have now been filled.
Now, Trump and Republicans are training their focus on finishing off confirmations for lower-level picks that require the Senate’s blessing.
