The US Senate confirmed two key health officials for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday. In a 53-47 vote along party lines, the Senate approved Jay Bhattacharya, a health economist and physician from Stanford University, as the head of the National Institutes of Health.

The Senate approved Marty Makary, a surgeon from Johns Hopkins Medicine, to lead the Food and Drug Administration. Unlike many of President Donald Trump's health nominees, Makary received support from some Democrats as well. The final vote was 56-44 in his favor. Meanwhile, Bhattacharya, known for his differing opinions on public health during the COVID-19 pandemic, will now head an agency that has experienced challenges early in Trump's second term. Before Bhattacharya took office, the NIH reduced its workforce by about 1,000 employees, halted new grant approvals, and introduced a policy limiting how much research funding universities can use for overhead costs. This funding policy has already faced a legal challenge. The NIH manages nearly $50 billion in research funding each year.

During his confirmation hearing earlier this month, Bhattacharya stated that he does not plan to cut more staff. However, the final decision may not be up to him. Before Bhattacharya’s confirmation, President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to propose additional layoffs this month. Although senators pressed Bhattacharya for details, he provided little information about his plans to change the way federally funded scientific research is conducted. He confirmed that he does not believe measles vaccines cause autism, but did not clarify whether the NIH would fund more studies on the unproven theory.

Since Trump took office, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has gone through major changes. This included firing and then rehiring employees, cancelling a meeting with outside vaccine experts, and resolving a shortage of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes and weight-loss drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy. The FDA’s top food regulator resigned and was replaced by a lawyer who had previously worked for food and beverage companies.

During Makary’s confirmation hearings earlier this month, senators questioned him about a cancelled public flu vaccine meeting. While he didn’t promise to reschedule it, he assured them that the FDA’s vaccine advisory panel would continue to meet. During his Senate hearing, Makary emphasised the importance of using "common sense" along with science. During the pandemic, he questioned whether Covid vaccines were necessary for young people at lower risk of severe illness and called for better oversight of the vaccines. Before the pandemic, Makary mainly focused on healthcare costs and making pricing more transparent.