Washington, DC — Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., has pulled the plug on the hiring freeze President Donald Trump imposed on the agency.
The moves will allow the FDA to fill vacancies to shape an agency capable of enacting his plans for how safety and efficacy information are gathered during development.
Trump had imposed the hiring freeze on the FDA and other federal agencies after taking office earlier this year.
But in April, Trump gave agencies the option to resume hiring provided they set out a plan for trimming their headcounts and costs by the end of June.
The moves will allow the FDA to fill vacancies to shape an agency capable of enacting his plans for how safety and efficacy information are gathered during development.
Trump had imposed the hiring freeze on the FDA and other federal agencies after taking office earlier this year.
But in April, Trump gave agencies the option to resume hiring provided they set out a plan for trimming their headcounts and costs by the end of June.
In response to the news, Senator Lamare Alexander (R-TN), the chairman of the Senate health committee, said lifting Trump’s hiring freeze at the FDA meets a top bipartisan Senate priority in the 21st Century Cures law.
Chairman Alexander said, “We asked the Food and Drug Administration last year to tell us the single most important thing we could do to help move safe drugs and devices more quickly into patients’ medicine cabinets and doctors’ offices. And they said it was to allow them to hire talented people and pay them more competitively.”
“Today’s announcement is exactly what the committee asked [Health and Human Services] Secretary [Tom] Price and Commissioner Gottlieb to do.”
The 21st Century Cures law passed last December—and signed into law by President Obama—included provisions improving the FDA’s ability to hire and retain top scientific minds.
Chairman Alexander said, “We asked the Food and Drug Administration last year to tell us the single most important thing we could do to help move safe drugs and devices more quickly into patients’ medicine cabinets and doctors’ offices. And they said it was to allow them to hire talented people and pay them more competitively.”
“Today’s announcement is exactly what the committee asked [Health and Human Services] Secretary [Tom] Price and Commissioner Gottlieb to do.”
The 21st Century Cures law passed last December—and signed into law by President Obama—included provisions improving the FDA’s ability to hire and retain top scientific minds.
