President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Dr. Marty Makary, passed a key committee vote 14-9 on Thursday morning, clearing the way for a full Senate vote on his nomination.
If confirmed before the full Senate, Makary will work alongside the nominee for National Institute of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to achieve Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again agenda.
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions(HELP) voted in favor of Makary’s confirmation following his committee hearing one week ago today.
‘We now have a generational opportunity in American healthcare. President Trump and Secretary Kennedy’s focus on healthy foods has galvanized a grassroots movement in America. Childhood obesity is not a willpower problem, and the rise of early-onset Alzheimer’s is not a genetic cause. We should be, and we will, be addressing food as it impacts our health,’ Makary said last week.
‘Thanks to the courage of President Trump and Secretary Kennedy, we now have a generational opportunity to usher in radical transparency to facilitate more cures, meaningful treatments and diagnostics at the FDA to help people take care of their own health,’ Makary added.
Makary was grilled by Democrats last week on vaccines, abortion, chronic illness and food safety. When repeatedly asked by Democratic senators on the committee whether he would revoke the approval process for Mifepristone, Makary said any decision on the abortion pill will come down to science.
‘I have no preconceived plans on Mifepristone policy except to take a solid, hard look at the data and to meet with the professional career scientists who have reviewed the data at the FDA, and to build an expert coalition to review the ongoing data,’ he said.
Makary, who advocated for natural immunity during the COVID-19 pandemic, flipped a question about vaccine processes around on Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., during his confirmation hearing, telling her to ask former President Joe Biden why he skipped a key step when it came to the COVID-19 booster.
‘So, if you are confirmed, will you commit to immediately reschedule that FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee meeting to get the expert views?’ Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., asked Trump’s FDA pick.
‘I would re-evaluate which topics deserve a convening of the advisory committee members on [Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee] and which may not require a convening,’ Makary replied, adding that he was not a part of the decision.
When asked again by Murray, he said: ‘Well, you can ask the Biden administration that chose not to convene the committee meeting for the COVID vaccine booster.’
He vowed during his committee hearing to lead his own Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) investigations if confirmed. DOGE has terminated the employment of thousands of probationary HHS employees, including those at the FDA, since Trump took office.
‘If confirmed, I will do my own independent assessment on personnel. I welcome input on efficiencies at the agency. At the same time, I want to make sure that the scientists and food inspectors and staff, central to the core mission of the agency, have all the resources they need to do their job well,’ Makary said last week.
Makary has long been a critic of the FDA. He penned an opinion piece in 2021 that called for ‘fresh leadership at the FDA to change the culture at the agency and promote scientific advancement, not hinder it.’
Trump nominated Johns Hopkins School of Medicine professor, pancreatic surgeon and former Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marty Makary for FDA commissioner in November.
‘I am very pleased to nominate Marty Makary MD, MPH, FACS, for FDA Commissioner,’ Trump said in a statement. ‘FDA has lost the trust of Americans, and has lost sight of its primary goal as a regulator. The Agency needs Dr. Marty Makary, a Highly Respected Johns Hopkins Surgical Oncologist and Health Policy Expert, to course-correct and refocus the Agency.’
Trump said that Makary will ‘work under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to, among other things, properly evaluate harmful chemicals poisoning our Nation’s food supply and drugs and biologics being given to our Nation’s youth, so that we can finally address the Childhood Chronic Disease Epidemic.’
Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson contributed to this report.