Califf Confirmation as New FDA Chief Expected Today
Credit: Chris Titze Imaging
The FDA is expected to have a new leader today. Robert Califf will likely be confirmed as the next commissioner of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) by midday Tuesday.
On Monday night, the Senate voted 49-45 to advance his nomination as part of a cloture vote, a key procedural hurdle that can also show whether or not Senate leadership has enough votes to succeed. Technically, cloture simply streamlines the vote by limiting down the time a matter can be discussed and also restricting Senators from certain actions such as amendments that are unrelated to the vote.
While this vote was close—five Republicans and one Democrat did not vote—Senate leadership typically does not call for cloture unless it believes it has the votes to pass a measure, writes Charlie Minato, an editor with Halfwheel.
He garnered the support of five Republicans, while simultaneously having five members of the Democratic caucus vote against his nomination.
The five had opposed him due to concerns over his close to ties to the pharmaceutical industry and FDA’s lack of action(s) regarding the opioid crisis. According to an article in The New York Times, abortion foes also are urging Republican lawmakers to reject Califf, who previously led the agency during the final year of the Obama administration.