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# Don’t Expect a New FDA Commissioner Soon: Grossman Column
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/dont-expect-a-new-fda-commissioner-soon-grossman-column/
- Published: 2026-05-26T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T13:39:50.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: FDA Policy/General, #legacy-id-D5161202

*FDA Matters* founder **Steven Grossman** says it’s hard to imagine a new FDA commissioner taking office before December 2026, and the early months of 2027 would be even more likely. Writing in his online newsletter, Grossman says, “It’s highly unlikely that anyone will be nominated soon, and no one will be confirmed quickly.” It’s his opinion that acting commissioner **Kyle Diamantas** is a good choice for the position and will likely serve for a significant amount of time.

Grossman’s analysis reviews the many steps involved in moving from a nomination through a Senate confirmation to a swearing-in, and the pitfalls along the way in the current political environment.

He points out that even if the administration has an immediate successor in mind, the initial vetting and financial and security clearances can take a month, and the Senate HELP Committee paperwork and staff review is done over an additional month, with no overlap of those processes likely. Given the relatively few weeks the Senate will be in session before the November midterm elections, there isn’t much time available for the kind of work that would need to be done.

Grossman also says that with the current divisive environment over public health, it’s hard to see how any candidate for FDA commissioner could have a quick or easy path to Senate confirmation. He identifies at least seven of the 53 Republican senators who could not be counted on to automatically vote affirmatively on a party-directed vote to confirm a commissioner.

“Any supposedly bipartisan nominee will find it hard to remain so in the face of inherently partisan and divisive questions,” he says. He points out that the Republican strategy to try to salvage something in the midterm elections would not be helped by lengthy discussion about many of FDA’s controversial issues.

Given Grossman’s view of the rocky road facing any nominee, he says Diamantas “is an ideal candidate to keep the agency afloat. By dint of his training, demeanor, and ‘acting’ status, he can avoid the limelight. And in the short term, he can avoid some of the difficult issues on which a permanent commissioner would need to take a stance.”