HELP Committee Democrats Seek Details on FDA Hiring Freeze
Fearing that a hiring freeze could impact the implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act, Democratic senators on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee are asking FDA for answers on how the federal hiring freeze (see earlier story) will affect the agency. “A hiring freeze at the FDA would conflict with and do significant damage to these bipartisan efforts to fill vacant positions and expand the scientific and technical workforce needed for a robust review of drugs and medical devices,” they wrote in a 1/30 letter to the agency. “Patients and their families can’t freeze the progress of a disease while the FDA waits to fill critical positions... Applying such a plan to the scientific and technical workforce at the FDA would severely hamper the agency’s ability to meet its commitments and carry out its mission.”