Senate Hearing for New FDA Commissioner Mirrors a Bad SNL Show

“I assumed you’d say, ‘Yes, I’ll reconfirm it immediately so we can let our public health experts and doctors know what flu to have next fall.” - Senator Patty Murray

March 6, 2025: Over the past 5 years, I have watched and re-watched; 6-plus hours long FDA advisory committee meetings, hours-long/multi-day Senate committee nomination and investigation hearings (i.e. Fauci), lengthy scientific presentations on synthetic biology (including a 16-hour course on nanotechnology from a Russian University), but today I could not sit through the remarkably ignorant line of questioning during today’s Senate confirmation hearing of Dr. Marty Makary as FDA Commissioner.

Dr. Marty Makary is a renowned surgeon, health policy expert, and professor at Johns Hopkins University. He is known for his work on healthcare reform, patient safety, and public health issues.

The repetitive questioning from Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) was notably inane.

“I assumed you’d say, ‘Yes, I’ll reconfirm it immediately so we can let our public health experts and doctors know what flu to have next fall.” - Senator Patty Murray