WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders’ rare move to delay President Biden’s health care nominees has put the drug pricing firebrand and the White House in a standoff — and public health advocates worry the feud could squeeze out an otherwise uncontroversial pick to lead the country’s top science agency.
Sanders, the chair of the health committee charged with scheduling the confirmation hearing for National Institutes of Health nominee Monica Bertagnolli, has said he will not schedule the hearing until the Biden administration promises more drug pricing reform. He’s not the only Democrat withholding support: Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren also wants Bertagnolli to sign a pledge that she won’t join pharmaceutical company boards after her tenure as director, according to three people familiar with internal deliberations.
But as days tick by and another summer recess looms, scientists and advocates are increasingly alarmed — and frustrated — that the White House isn’t putting more pressure on Sanders to schedule her hearing. While a hearing is not required before the whole Senate votes, it would be highly unusual and could alienate Sanders, an independent, from Democratic leadership.
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