A Senate committee voted Thursday morning to advance Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, President Donald Trump's pick to head the National Institutes of Health, in a 12-11 party-line vote.

Jay Bhattacharya, President Donald Trump ’s nominee to direct the National Institutes of Health faced questions Wednesday during his Senate confirmation hearing about how he would lead the agency and whether he would support policies handed down from Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Trump's pick to head the National Institutes of Health has been famously critical of the U.S.'s COVID-19 response.

Other Democrats also voiced apprehension about how Bhattacharya might approach medical research at the NIH. Bhattacharya did not directly oppose the potential cuts to NIH funding but emphasized that,

The Senate Committee of Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted to advance Jay Bhattacharya’s nomination as director of the National Institutes of Health on Wednesday. He now faces a glide-path to confirmation in the full Senate.

Jay Bhattacharya, nominee for National Institutes of Health director, and FDA pick Marty Makary clear key Senate committee.

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health answered sharp questions in a confirmation hearing Wednesday about his views on vaccines, research funding and the role scientists should play in a pandemic.

Two of President Donald Trump’s key public health nominations advanced at the committee level Thursday morning, moving them to consideration in the full Senate. The Senate Committee on Health, Education,

President Trump’s nominees to head the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared a key Senate committee largely along party lines Thursday, paving the way for a full floor vote to confirm them.