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.
