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Jay Bhattacharya took center stage on Wednesday in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) for his confirmation hearing as the new Director for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in what was a fairly smooth session when compared to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s bid for HHS secretary.  

Bhattacharya, who gained significant public attention in 2020 for criticising pandemic regulations like lockdowns, largely dodged directly answering questions about restoring NIH funding cuts and swung back and forth about vaccines’ link to autism. 

As the potential new director of the National Institutes for Health, Bhattacharya was questioned about various aspects of recent funding cuts at the NIH, which typically has an annual budget of $47 billion. 

Multiple Senators, including Sen. Susan Collins (R-Ma) and Sen. Murray (D-Wa), asked Bhattacharya on his view on the NIH’s announcement last month to cap indirect costs for research funds for universities and research centers at 15%. Universities and research centers typically receive a rate of 30-70% in indirect costs for administrative and facility support not directly tied to a specific project, which is normally determined on a case-by-case basis. 

A slash of these rates would cut billions in funding that universities and research centers receive. 

Sen. Collins noted that the shift in indirect costs was not “legal,” citing that the language from the HHS Labor Appropriations Bill from 2017 guaranteed that indirect costs be determined on a case-by-case basis. 

While Bhattacharya did not pledge to slash the cap, he promised that he would “follow the law” on the matter. 

He was also pressed by Sen. Murray, Sen. Baldwin (D-Wi), Sen. Hassan (D-Nh), Sen. Markey (D-Ma) and others about specific funding cuts across various levels of staff and research units at the NIH. 

According to recent reports, over 1,200 employees at the NIH have been let go by the agency over the past few weeks. Funding cuts have led to a halt in active clinical trials across the country and programs that support new pharma and biotech businesses. Reports have also indicated that research that includes words linked to diversity, inclusion or the LGBTQ+ community have also been halted. 

While NIH funding cuts to universities and research centers have been temporarily halted by a motion from a federal judge, the future of the cuts is uncertain.

When asked by Sen. Murray if he would support further personnel cuts at the NIH, Bhattacharya hesitated before noting that he “does not intend” to cut any more staff at the institution. 

However, when he was asked about his views on funding and personnel cuts, he mostly deferred to the sentiment he was not involved in making those decisions, and therefore avoided comment. 

When asked if he would follow enforcing orders by President Trump or abiding by the law, he responded that he will follow the law, though emphasized that he “does not think” the President would order him to break the law. 

He did however state that he is committed to restoring advisory councils to review research at the NIH. 

The committee also questioned Bhattacharya about vaccine efficacy. HELP Chair Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La) pressed Trump’s nominee on his views about vaccine efficacy for measles and his views on vaccines’ link to autism. 

The physician turned politician from Louisiana pushed similar questions on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during his confirmation hearing, expressing doubts about Kennedy’s lack of ability to say that vaccines do not cause autism. He ultimately voted to clear him through the Senate floor, which secured his position as HHS secretary. 

“There is now a child who died from a vaccine preventable disease in Texas,” emphasized Cassidy, when talking about the importance of being clear about vaccine efficacy. 

Bhattacharya ultimately agreed that he “fully supports” the measles vaccine and said that he generally “does not think” there is a link between autism and vaccines. However, he did not confirm that he wouldn’t investigate vaccines as a potential cause for autism.  

Cassidy noted that he was especially concerned with Bhattacharya’s lack of acknowledgement that science has distanced the cause of autism from vaccines, as it could lead to “precious limited taxpayers dollars” being poured into investigating the link between vaccines and autism again, rather than using funds to determine the true source of autism. 

Throughout the hearing, Senators also hinted that one of the concerns around the NIH was who is ultimately making the big decisions. This concern comes as DOGE, led by Elon Musk, has been reported requesting information from HHS staff and cutting FDA offices. 

Sen. Berine Sanders (I-Vt) noted that “it does not matter” who leads the NIH, as current decisions around funding and personnel cuts were orchestrated by Elon Musk as part of DOGE. He stated that Musk and DOGE were vital in leading the 1,200 personnel cuts at the institute, and freezing funds for research, calling the efficacy of the Director of the NIH in question. 

“It doesn’t matter who he nominates to be the Director of the NIH, or the Secretary of Labor, or Secretary of Education or Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration,” said Sanders.  “The real person in charge of all these federal agencies is Mr. Elon Musk and that will continue to be the case no matter who the Senate confirms to be in these positions.”

While the hearing was slightly contentious at times, Bhattacharya largely sailed through the questions without major pushback. The committee is likely to vote on Bhattacharya’s confirmation sometime next week.