The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed Robert Califf to be the new head of the Food and Drug Administration Wednesday.
The Senate voted 89-4 to confirm Califf, a former Duke University researcher whose ties to the pharmaceutical industry ignited criticism from several Democrats. Califf becomes the 22nd commissioner of the agency that oversees food, drug and medical device safety and approves new drugs and devices.
Califf has been serving as the deputy commissioner of medical products at the FDA for more than a year. He replaces former Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, who resigned last year.
Califf received critical bipartisan support from the Senate, including Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The committee advanced Califf’s confirmation to the full Senate floor.
“The next FDA commissioner will have a lot of work to do — both to implement the legislation that we’re passing and to take [FDA’s] existing authority and make sure that we help patients as best we can,” Alexander said Monday on the Senate floor. “He is the right person for this job.”
But several Democrats didn’t think so. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. and Ed Markey, D-Mass., broke with their party to vote against Califf.
Both weren’t confident that Califf could change the FDA’s culture surrounding opioids. They complained of recent agency decisions to approve new opioid painkillers, which are being abused in record numbers, and either ignored or not seek advice of experts.
Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., joined Markey and Manchin in voting against the nomination.
