Dr. Marty Makary, the nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP) at a mostly cordial confirmation hearing on March 6.
The Johns Hopkins University surgeon and researcher fielded a plethora of questions from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle about topics ranging from the safety of abortion pills and seed oils to flu vaccines and information transparency.
The FDA is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, which is led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Like Kennedy, Makary over the years has criticized COVID-19 mandates, advocated removing chemicals and toxins from the U.S. food supply, and proposed greater transparency in medicine.
In a Nov. 22 Truth Social post announcing Makary’s nomination, President Donald Trump said that the agency has lost the trust of Americans and “lost sight of its primary goal as a regulator.”
Makary is needed to “course-correct and refocus the Agency,” Trump wrote, as well as to 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 Chronic Disease Epidemic.”
Minutes after Kennedy was sworn in as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on Feb. 13, Trump established a Make America Healthy Again Commission to review the safety of antidepressants, vaccines, stimulants, and weight-loss drugs—all products regulated by the FDA.
If confirmed, Makary would explore vaccine safety, research additives and dyes in food, and address chronic diseases, among other initiatives.
Those are among the topics explored at the March 6 confirmation hearing. Here are five takeaways from the discussion:
Flu Vaccine Meeting
On Feb. 27, the FDA canceled an annual meeting of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBAC) that usually discusses and chooses which flu strains to target in the upcoming fall season. Makary was asked about the move by Democratic and Republican lawmakers. He pledged to review the decision if he is confirmed.
“You have my commitment to review what the committees are doing, and how they are being used,” Makary said.
The FDA’s internal scientists will determine strains for the shots and send them to manufacturers to make sure that updated vaccines are ready for the fall, according to the Trump administration.
HELP Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.) first inquired about the meeting’s cancellation at Kennedy’s confirmation hearing last month; Cassidy said he was “struggling” to support Kennedy because of the nominee’s comments about vaccines.
“What is lost is the transparency,” Cassidy said, adding that cutting public discussion on vaccines detracts from Kennedy’s “radical transparency” pledge.
Makary repeatedly noted that he was not part of the decision to cancel the VRBAC meeting. He added that the committee has often just “rubber stamped” recommendations approved by the World Health Organization’s Global Influenza Program.
Several HELP committee members asked Makary to commit to holding a VRBAC meeting if he is confirmed. The nominee declined, saying the FDA does not need VRBAC input to choose a flu vaccine makeup.
