The Senate voted Tuesday night to confirm Johns Hopkins University surgeon Martin Makary to lead the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates about 80% of the nation's food supply.
Makary's nomination was approved 56-44, with Democrats Richard Durbin of Illinois, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire voting with Republicans in support of Makary.
Members of the Make America Healthy Again movement said Makary is fully in line with his new boss, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., particularly on issues such as food chemicals.
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During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Makary vowed to address chemicals in food. He also said he believes food chemicals are one culprit behind chronic disease among children.
Specifically, he called out the FDA’s Generally Recognized as Safe process for food ingredients. He also told senators that he’s in conversations with Trump administration officials about making school meals healthier, although the school meals programs are under the purview of USDA, not HHS or FDA.
Since Makary’s hearing, Kennedy officially directed FDA to explore rulemaking that would tighten the GRAS process. While consumer groups support this, they warn that efforts to cut federal employees across agencies could pose a challenge for carrying out Kennedy's plan.
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