Senate confirms Biden's pick Robert Califf as FDA commissioner
CBSN
Washington — The Senate on Tuesday approved Dr. Robert Califf as the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), filling a critical role at the public health agency that has been without a Senate-confirmed leader for more than a year.
The final vote was 50 to 46, with six GOP senators voting to confirm Califf and five Democrats voting against. GOP Senator Mike Rounds changed his vote to "present" as a courtesy to Democratic Senator Ben Ray Luján, who is still recovering from a stroke. Luján and two other senators did not vote.
It took the president nearly 10 months to nominate Califf, despite the ongoing and deadly COVID-19 pandemic. The FDA is, among many other things, in charge of approving COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics.
Nevada prosecutors say 20 people have been charged in connection with a brawl at a maximum-security prison in eastern Nevada last year in which three inmates were killed and others were injured.
The nominee for a top Justice Department job has left a digital trail of deleted social media posts that his critics say suggest fringe views on a number of issues, including an openness to defying court orders and acceptance of arranged marriages under certain circumstances.
Prosecutors say Bryan Kohberger's defense team will argue at his murder trial that someone else could have planted a knife sheath with Kohberger's DNA at the home where four University of Idaho students were killed in 2022.
Waterbury, Conn. — A Connecticut man who said he was held captive for 20 years was rescued after setting fire to his room and telling first responders he did it to gain his freedom, police said Wednesday.
Robert Morris, founding pastor of Gateway Church, a megachurch in Southlake, Texas, has been indicted on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, stemming from alleged incidents dating back to the 1980s, the Oklahoma attorney general's office announced Wednesday. We are aware of the actions being taken by the legal authorities in Oklahoma and are grateful for the work of the justice system in holding abusers accountable for their actions. We continue to pray for Cindy Clemishire and her family, for the members and staff of Gateway Church, and for all of those impacted by this terrible situation.
President Trump has pardoned a former Republican Tennessee lawmaker who was two weeks into a 21-month prison sentence for an illegal campaign finance scheme that he pleaded guilty to in 2022, before he tried unsuccessfully to take back his plea.
The arrest of Mahmoud Khalil , a green card holder and former Columbia University student involved in pro-Palestinian campus protests in 2024, is raising questions about the rights of permanent residents in the United States.
Sweeping 25% tariffs on all U.S. steel and aluminum imports could cause a rise in prices for a wide range of products including cars and washing machines and other consumer goods, as well as components used in manufacturing and construction, such as nails.
Washington — Less than two months since President Trump's inauguration, the Republican-led Senate has confirmed nearly every one of his Cabinet nominees.
The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday said it would "formally reconsider" a landmark 2009 finding by the agency that greenhouse gases are a danger to public health.
Another norovirus outbreak sickened passengers on board the cruise ship Coral Princess in February, marking the second outbreak this year on the ocean liner operated by Princess Cruises, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The former boyfriend of an Iowa woman who vanished 36 years ago has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in her disappearance, officials said Tuesday.
President Trump sparked concerns this week when he declined to rule out the possibility of a U.S. recession this year. Asked on Fox news if he expects such a slump, Mr. Trump said, "I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what we're doing is very big."