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# Makary Wins Senate Floor Vote on FDA Confirmation
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/makary-wins-senate-floor-vote-on-fda-confirmation/
- Published: 2025-03-26T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T14:56:20.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: FDA Policy/General, #legacy-id-D5158891

The U.S. Senate 3/25 voted 56 to 44 to confirm the nomination of [**Marty Makary**](https://www.fdaweb.com/makary-pledges-fda-staff-assessment-due-to-firings/) as the next FDA commissioner. The floor vote follows the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee’s vote 3/13 to advance the nomination. Makary will likely be sworn in sometime this week.

HELP Committee chair **Bill Cassidy** (R-LA) noted before the vote that the U.S. is at a critical moment in public health because there has been a “loss of trust in public health and science agencies.” He said the people’s trust must be restored by “public health leaders committed to transparency and finding unbiased solutions to Americans’ most challenging health problems.” He said he supports Makary’s commitment to promoting medical innovation while upholding the agency’s gold standard for reviewing products. Cassidy also emphasized the need to address obesity and chronic disease.

One of Makary’s first orders of business will likely be to address with HHS secretary **Robert F. Kennedy Jr.** who will serve as chief counsel after the Trump Administration’s choice earlier this month abruptly resigned after two days on the job. Former Justice Department attorney **Hilary Perkins** was ousted ([see story](https://www.fdaweb.com/fda-top-lawyer-resigns-after-2-days-on-the-job/)) after Sen. **Josh Hawley** (R-MO) objected to her because she defended FDA and the Biden Administration’s policy on abortion pills in a [high-profile case](https://litigationtracker.law.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Whole-Womans-Health-Alliance%5F2024.12.18%5FDEFENDANTS-COMBINED-MEMORANDUM-IN-SUPPORT-OF-CROSS-MOTION-FOR-SUMMARY-JUDGMENT-AND-IN-OPPOSITION-TO-PLAINTIFFS-MOTION-FOR-SUMMARY-JUDGMENT.pdf?ref=fdaweb.com), according to the [*Daily Wire*](https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-how-the-fdas-chief-counsel-went-from-hired-to-fired-in-two-days?ref=fdaweb.com). She also signed an earlier legal brief expressing support for president Biden’s Covid-19 vaccine mandates, Hawley said.

Perkins reportedly was chosen as the top FDA lawyer by Makary, despite HHS officials objecting to the choice, and who were eventually overruled by the White House, according to an [*Axios report*](https://www.axios.com/2025/03/11/fda-top-lawyer-abortion-pills?ref=fdaweb.com).

Makary also arrives at the agency as it reels from the lowest level of morale in its history. Last Monday, thousands of FDAers chaotically returned to the office several years after remote, work-from-home convenience. They were met with parking congestion, slow security line clearances, a lack of workspaces, among various other inconveniences. After losing about 1,000 employees under Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting efforts, FDA employees are now facing a second round of cuts under a presidential order that required reorganization “reductions in force” plans to be submitted by 3/13\. HHS reportedly is reviewing the plan and Makary will likely need to implement them once approved.