The United States Senate voted 50-46 to confirm Robert Califf as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday as several Republican members of the Senate crossed party lines to rescue President Biden's nominee: Senators Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Richard Burr (NC), Mitt Romney (UT), Pat Toomey (PA) and Roy Blunt (MO).
Senate confirms Robert Califf as FDA Commissioner. The vote was 50-46 with one senator voting present.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) February 15, 2022
GOP yeas are Blunt, Burr, Collins, Murkowski, Romney & Toomey. Dems/Indepedents against: Blumenthal, Hassan, Markey, Manchin & Sanders.
Without those Republican votes, Califf's confirmation would have failed due to opposition from Democrat Senators Joe Manchin (WV), Richard Blumenthal (CT), Maggie Hassan (NH), Ed Markey (MA), and Bernie Sanders (VT) who voted against Biden's pick.
Before Tuesday's vote, five Republican Senators also helped Democrats overcome a filibuster Monday night and set up the ultimately successful confirmation.
3) GOPers voting to end debate were Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Richard Burr (R-NC) and Roy Blunt (R-MO).
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) February 15, 2022
Califf is controversial because of his ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
Townhall previously reported on Califf — who served as head of the FDA under President Obama — and the bipartisan opposition to his confirmation. Senator Manchin called Califf's nomination an "insult" amid the opioid crisis and doubled-down on his opposition to Biden's nominee over his ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
Conservatives also raised concerns about Califf returning to his post leading the FDA over his previous tenure serving as FDA Commissioner during which the "FDA significantly undermined the reporting and safety requirements on medication abortion, also known as chemical abortion," according to a letter sent by the Susan B. Anthony List to members of the Senate in January. The SBA List also made it known that they would be scoring against Califf's confirmation vote in their ranking of pro-life lawmakers.
The Senate just voted to confirm Robert Califf to lead the FDA, despite his history of rubber-stamping abortion lobby demands to weaken health & safety regs on dangerous chemical abortions.
— Susan B. Anthony List #ModernizeOurLaw (@SBAList) February 15, 2022
We will score against votes for Califf. 1/
Full statement: https://t.co/UHWHxykZ9u
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA List, condemned the Senate's decision to confirm Califf on Tuesday, saying her organization is "deeply disappointed in the result of today’s vote. Robert Califf’s confirmation to lead the FDA paves the way for permanent authorization of mail-order abortion drugs, at a dire cost to women’s health and safety and the lives of countless unborn children," Dannenfelser added. "SBA List will continue to monitor the FDA’s actions to expand chemical abortion drugs and expose the extremism of the abortion lobby and the pro-abortion Biden administration. We will never stop fighting to ensure that unborn children and their mothers are protected under the law," she said.