The Senate has been working this week to confirm more of President Donald Trump’s nominees essential to his agenda on health care and finance. Those nominees, though less high-profile than Cabinet members, will play leading roles in the Trump administration.
The week saw the confirmation of two nominees important to Trump’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda—Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health and Dr. Marty Makary to be commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
Bhattacharya, a Stanford University professor who rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic as an opponent of lockdown measures, was confirmed by a 53-to-47 party-line vote.
Throughout the Senate confirmation process, Bhattacharya pledged to increase transparency within the NIH, allow for more dissent, and regulate risky biomedical research that could lead to the leak of harmful pathogens.
Makary—who was confirmed to head the FDA on the same day, also on a mostly party-line vote of 56-to-44—also exemplifies Trump’s commitment to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA agenda. Three Democrats broke ranks to confirm him: Sens. Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen, both of New Hampshire, and Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.
In confirmation hearings, Makary vowed to investigate harmful ingredients in food and drugs, and to probe the reasons why “half of our nation’s children are sick.”
“Nobody has really been doing anything meaningful on this front until we have gotten new momentum and enthusiasm from Secretary Kennedy and President Trump,” said Makary of the nation’s health woes.
The Senate Finance Committee also advanced the nomination of Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trump’s pick to serve as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, on Wednesday.
In hearings, Oz has spoken of his desire to make Medicare and Medicaid more cost-efficient.
Oz overcame a major hurdle in his confirmation process when the Trump administration gave a guarantee to Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., that Oz no longer held pro-transgender surgery and pro-choice views on abortion that he had espoused in the past.
With Oz’s likely confirmation, the Trump administration will be well on its way toward having the staff necessary to implement its ambitious health care agenda.
The Senate also made significant strides this week in the areas of business and finance.
Michael Katsios was confirmed Tuesday by the Senate on a bipartisan 74-25 vote to lead the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, where he says he will work to advance “American dominance in [artificial intelligence], emerging tech, and breakthrough science.”
Also Tuesday, Frank Bisignano, Trump’s nominee to head the Social Security Administration, testified at a hearing, during which Democrat senators accused him of wanting to slash Social Security benefits.
Trump’s pick for chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Paul Atkins, appeared before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs on Thursday morning for his confirmation hearing. Atkins is former SEC commissioner.
