Secret Assets Owners
  • Investing
  • World News
  • Politics
  • Stock
  • Editor’s Pick
Politics

Trump’s pick to lead NIH, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, confirmed by Senate in party-line vote

by March 26, 2025
March 26, 2025

The full Senate voted Tuesday evening to confirm President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.

The party-line vote followed approval from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which also voted along party lines to advance Bhattacharya, leading to today’s full Senate vote.  

A physician, Stanford professor of medicine and senior fellow at the university’s Institute for Economic Policy Research, Bhattacharya was a leading voice during the COVID-19 pandemic against lockdown measures and vaccine mandates. 

He was one of the co-authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, a document published in October 2020 by a group of scientists advocating against widespread COVID lockdowns and promoting the efficacy of natural immunity for low-risk individuals as opposed to vaccination.

Bhattacharya was probed by the Senate HELP Committee earlier this month over various issues related to his potential role as NIH director. However, for much of the hearing, he was forced to defend the president’s decision to cut certain research funds at NIH, including a 15% cap on indirect research costs, also known as facilities and administrative costs, dispersed by the NIH.

Bhattacharya would not explicitly say he disagreed with the cuts, or that, if confirmed, he would step in to stop them. Rather, he said he would ‘follow the law,’ while also investigating the effect of the cuts and ensuring every NIH researcher doing work that advances the health outcomes of Americans has the resources necessary.

‘I think transparency regarding indirect costs is absolutely worthwhile. It’s something that universities can fix by working together to make sure that where that money goes is made clear,’ Bhattacharya said of the indirect costs going to universities, hospitals and research clinics from the NIH. 

In addition to addressing questions about the Trump cuts, Bhattacharya also laid out what he called a new, decentralized vision for future research at NIH that he said will be aimed at embracing dissenting ideas and transparency, while focusing on research topics that have the best chance at directly benefiting health outcomes of Americans. Bhattacharya added that he wants to rid the agency’s research portfolio of other ‘frivolous’ efforts that he says do little to directly benefit health outcomes.

‘I think fundamentally what matters is do scientists have an idea that advances the scientific field they’re in?’ Bhattacharya said last week during his confirmation testimony. ‘Do they have an idea that ends up addressing the health needs of Americans?’

Prior to his confirmation, Bhattacharya, alongside several other scientists, including Trump’s pick to head the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Marty Makary, launched a new research journal focused on spurring scientific discourse and combating ‘gatekeeping’ in the medical research community. The journal, the Journal of the Academy of Public Health (JAPH), aims to spur scientific discourse by publishing peer reviews of prominent studies from other journals that do not make their peer reviews publicly available.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
previous post
Trump FDA pick clears last hurdle after flipping vaccine question on Dem in confirmation hearing
next post
Senate confirms Dr Marty Makary as Trump’s FDA chief

You may also like

I worked for the most successful third party...

July 10, 2025

Trump cautioned Putin he would ‘bomb the s—‘...

July 10, 2025

Trump taps Sean Duffy to serve as interim...

July 10, 2025

Watchdog backs Rubio’s sanctions on UN official over...

July 10, 2025

Biden doctor pleads the Fifth in speedy House...

July 9, 2025

US-backed Gaza aid group launches bold new system...

July 9, 2025

Far-left firebrand says she ‘never had a concern’...

July 9, 2025

Biden doctor dodges questions in speedy House closed-door...

July 9, 2025

Sotomayor breaks with Jackson in Supreme Court decision...

July 9, 2025

New book sheds light on Harris decision to...

July 9, 2025
Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get Premium Articles For Free


Your information is secure and your privacy is protected. By opting in you agree to receive emails from us. Remember that you can opt-out any time, we hate spam too!

Recent Posts

  • I worked for the most successful third party in decades. Elon Musk has a lot to learn from it

    July 10, 2025
  • Trump cautioned Putin he would ‘bomb the s—‘ out of Moscow if Russia invaded Ukraine, new book claims

    July 10, 2025
  • Trump taps Sean Duffy to serve as interim NASA chief

    July 10, 2025
  • Watchdog backs Rubio’s sanctions on UN official over ‘shameful efforts’ targeting US, Israel

    July 10, 2025
  • Seizing AI’s Trillion Dollar Cyber Opportunity

    July 9, 2025
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 SecretAssetsOwners.com All Rights Reserved.


Back To Top
Secret Assets Owners
  • Investing
  • World News
  • Politics
  • Stock
  • Editor’s Pick