Key Takeaways
- The Senate HELP committee voted 14-9 to advance FDA Commissioner nominee Martin Makary to the Senate floor with support from two Democrats.
- The vote seemed to move in Makary’s favor only after the FDA’s newly appointed chief counsel was pushed to resign due to past work on mifepristone litigation, raising questions about the Trump Administration's position on the ongoing litigation.
- The HELP Committee also voted in favor of NIH Director nominee Jayanta Battacharya on a 12-11 party-line vote, but abruptly canceled a hearing for David Weldon to lead the CDC after the Trump Administration pulled his nomination.
Despite late drama that may signal a coming change in mifepristone policy, Martin Makary appears likely to become the next US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner following a positive bipartisan
Two Democrats, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and John Hickenlooper of Colorado, joined the committee’s Republicans to