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# Senate HELP Committee Backs Gottlieb as Next FDA Head
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/senate-help-committee-backs-gottlieb-as-next-fda-head/
- Published: 2017-04-27T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T22:20:28.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: FDA Policy/General, #legacy-id-D5138563

The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee has voted 14 to 9 to report out and send the nomination of **Scott Gottlieb** as the next FDA commissioner to a floor vote. Gottlieb previously served as deputy FDA commissioner during the George W. Bush administration. Two Democrats joined Republicans in supporting his nomination — **Sheldon Whitehouse** (D-RI) and **Michael Bennet** (D-CO).  
  
“Dr. Gottlieb is the right person to lead the Food and Drug Administration in its vital mission and move the agency forward so that America’s patients benefit from the remarkable discoveries our nation’s researchers are working on,” said committee chairman **Lamar Alexander** (R-TN). “The Food and Drug Administration is always important, but there has never been a more important time for the FDA to take advantage of the significant funding given to medical research and new tools given to the agency through 21st Century Cures and turn that potential into results for American patients. Dr. Gottlieb understands the importance of the agency that I hope he will soon lead.”  
  
Voicing opposition to Gottlieb’s nomination, ranking member **Patty Murray** (D-WA) said before the vote that she was concerned about “his ability to avoid conflicts of interest given his unprecedented financial entanglements; his ability to withstand political pressure from the Trump Administration in order to ensure science, not ideology, drives decision-making at the FDA; and whether or not he will truly prioritize patient and consumer safety and the public’s health over the interests of corporations who stand to gain financially.” She was also frustrated in the lack of specificity in many of Gottlieb’s written answers to questions she submitted after his nomination hearing.