Bernie Sanders Will Vote Against Biden’s Pick For NIH Director—Posing Major Roadblock

Forbes Business Breaking Bernie Sanders Will Vote Against Biden’s Pick For NIH Director—Posing Major Roadblock William Skipworth Forbes Staff I am a breaking news reporter. Following Oct 24, 2023, 05:24pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.

) said Tuesday he intends to vote against President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the National Institutes of Health, saying she won’t do enough to fight the pharmaceutical companies, one of Sanders’ longtime political objectives—meaning she will need some Republican support for her nomination to move forward. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.

) questions Monica Bertagnolli during her confirmation hearing to be the . . .

[+] next director of the National Institutes of Health on October 18, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) Getty Images Key Facts Sanders called Monica Bertagnolli “an intelligent and caring person,” but said she “has not convinced me that she is prepared to take on the greed and power of the drug companies and health care industry and fight for the transformative changes the NIH needs at this critical moment” in a statement Tuesday. To be confirmed and officially enter her role as director of the NIH, Bertagnolli will need a majority of the Senate to vote in favor of her nomination—and before that, she will need to pass the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which Sanders chairs.

Sanders said he wouldn’t be asking his colleagues to follow his lead, saying: “This should be a vote of conscience. ” Forbes has reached out to the White House for comment. What To Watch For Because Democrats hold only a one-seat majority on the committee, with Sanders voting no, Biden and Bertagnolli will need at least one Republican vote to move forward.

Seven of the 10 Democrats who serve on the committee all said they planned to vote in favor of Bertagnolli via either a statement or comments to Politico . The remaining two–Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.

) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N. M. )—have not publicly said how they will vote.

Of the Republicans, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla. ) told Politico he would “probably lean toward no right now” and Sen.

Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala. ) said he plans to vote no. The remaining Republicans haven’t revealed how they plan to vote.

Key Background Bertagnolli is a surgical oncologist and served as director of the NIH’s National Cancer Institute previously. Biden selected Bertagnolli for the position in May, but her nomination has gotten caught up in the fierce debate surrounding drug prices in the months since. When the Senate health committee finally held a hearing to discuss her nomination last week, Sanders began his opening statement with a list of his concerns.

“Very relevant to the hearing that we are conducting right now,” he said, “we pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs, in some cases 10 times more than the people in other nations. ” He called the U. S.

medical system “broken” and “failing. ” The NIH, which grants money to medical research with the goal of creating innovations in medicine, is the largest funder of medical research in the world with a budget surpassing $47 billion. Further Reading Bernie Sanders opposes Biden’s pick to lead the NIH, putting her confirmation in jeopardy (Politico) Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn .

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