Jay Bhattacharya also confirmed as NIH director.
The U.S. Senate on March 25 confirmed Dr. Marty Markary as commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Jay Bhattacharya was confirmed to lead the National Institute of Health.
Makary was confirmed by a vote of 56-44, Bhattacharya by a vote of 53-47.
Makary, a Johns Hopkins University surgeon and researcher, gained prominence on Fox News and other conservative outlets for his contrarian views during the COVID-19 pandemic. He questioned the need for masking and, though he was not opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine, expressed concern about vaccinating young children.
During his March 6 confirmation hearing, Makary repeatedly assured Republican and Democratic senators he would follow the "scientific process" at FDA.
Bhattacharya, a physician and professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine, was also a critic of vaccine mandates during the pandemic. Bhattacharya was one of three authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, an October 2020 open letter maintaining that lockdowns were causing irreparable harm.