Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, nominee for director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), proposed to transform the agency’s research and restore public trust in the institution at his confirmation hearing on March 5.
The physician and former Stanford University professor first drew public attention in 2020 for his criticism of COVID-19-era interventions such as mask mandates, lockdowns, and school closures.
Bhattacharya and others argued for “focused protection” of vulnerable people while allowing low-risk groups to resume normal activities.
He later sued the government, alleging that it pressured social media companies to censor his views.
President Donald Trump nominated Bhattacharya in November 2024 to lead NIH with its $50 billion budget and staff of more than 25,000.
Bhattacharya faced two hours of questions from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Here are the major concerns voiced by lawmakers and how the nominee responded to them.
Restoring Trust
Subcommittee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.) opened the session by pointing to what he called a widespread loss of trust in public health and scientific institutions.
“To restore that trust, officials need to be more transparent and provide reassurance that they are publishing health guidance that is best for Americans’ health and not biased in any way,” Cassidy said.
“What I have seen is that there’s tremendous distrust in medicine and science coming out of the pandemic.”
Bhattacharya said a key to restoring trust is to make NIH research more rigorous.
“NIH-supported science should be replicable, reproducible, and generalizable,” he said, recalling a recent research integrity scandal within the agency that called into question the validity of some studies on Alzheimer’s disease.
“NIH can and must solve the crisis of scientific data reliability.”
Wider Access to Funding, Broader Research Focus
NIH research grants are too narrowly concentrated on favored viewpoints and subject areas, according to Cassidy.
“The current system incentivizes established scientists who study already proven concepts rather than younger scientists who have unproven ideas with potential as major medical breakthroughs,” he said.
Bhattacharya said he would change that.
“NIH must recommit to its mission to fund the most innovative biomedical research agenda possible to improve American health,” he said.
That means funding more cutting-edge research that might produce a major discovery rather than incremental research building on already established ideas.
At the same time, Bhattacharya said he intends to reorient the agency’s work to solve the nation’s primary health problem.
“NIH research should focus on research that solves the American chronic disease crisis,” the nominee said.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) found common ground with Bhattacharya and some Republican senators on that point.
“I don’t have to tell any American that the health care system in our country is broken, and it is failing,” Sanders said.
He noted the shortened life expectancy of lower-income Americans, which he attributed, in part, to a poor diet made worse by aggressive advertising of sugary foods to children.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) agreed, saying, “We have an epidemic of obesity, particularly among our poor, particularly among those on food stamps.”
Making so-called junk food ineligible for purchase with federal assistance funds would improve public health, Paul said.
Sanders prodded Bhattacharya to go beyond research to use executive action to reduce the consumption of such foods by children.
“I think what we’re learning from the president is a lot can be done through executive orders,” Sanders said.
Staffing, Funding for Outcomes
Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) questioned Bhattacharya on his support for recent changes effected at NIH by the Trump administration.
Both senators asked directly whether the nominee would reverse steps taken by the administration.
“We’ve had grant freezes, pauses on advisory meetings, pauses on clinical trials, mass firings being carried out,” Murray said.
She said the actions have threatened to upend the treatment of childhood cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and women’s health issues.
“Do you support the recent researcher firings and grant freezes that have been implemented by Trump and DOGE?” Murray asked.
“I was not involved in those decisions,” the nominee responded.
Baldwin later said: “This administration has halted funding for so far 14 Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers. Do you agree with that decision?”
Bhattacharya said, “I don’t have access to that information from outside.”
Baldwin responded: “You’re not unaware that this is happening, and you should have a position on this. I mean, you’ve accepted President Trump’s nomination, and you’re watching these actions taking place in an organization that you may someday lead.”
Bhattacharya consistently said he had no intention of cutting staff at the agency and was determined to see that it has the resources needed for its mission, which he defined as “to do research to make America healthy.”
A federal judge issued a nationwide injunction on March 5 against the Trump administration’s effort to cut federal funding awarded by NIH.
The order was in response to a lawsuit filed by 22 Democrat state attorneys general, medical associations, and universities who argued that the cuts were illegal.
Intellectual Freedom, Healthy Skepticism
“I will establish a culture of respect for free speech in science and scientific dissent at NIH,” the nominee said, noting that the agency had developed a culture of intolerance for divergent thinking.
Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) highlighted the problem in his introduction of Bhattacharya. Ricketts is not a member of the subcommittee but was invited to present the nominee.
Ricketts said the scientific method is not about “group think.”
“It’s about challenging ideas and about thinking, ‘Well, you’ve got this idea; prove it,’” he said.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) said skepticism is an important attribute in a researcher.
“We all should doubt our own infallibility, and we should doubt the infallibility of NIH as well,” Marshall said.
Bhattacharya said, “We have to as scientists say we might be wrong. Because when we meet data that disagrees with us … maybe that other idea is right.
“I want to make sure that all the range of hypotheses are supported. That’s how you make progress.”
University Administrative Fees Questioned
The NIH has sought to cap the indirect costs associated with university research grants at 15 percent of the total.
NIH reported on Feb. 7 that $9 billion was allocated in fiscal year 2023 to overhead expenses through its indirect cost rate. The average indirect cost rate has averaged between 27 percent and 28 percent.
The 15 percent cap, which was blocked by a Massachusetts judge, drew criticism and comments from bipartisan senators.
“That amounts to a massive funding cut for research institutions, large and small, red and blue states,” Murray said, “and brings a lot of life-saving research to a screeching halt.”
She noted that Stanford University would stand to lose some $160 million per year under the plan.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) called the move ill-conceived and completely arbitrary.
“A one-size-fits-all approach makes absolutely no sense, and that is why NIH negotiates with the individual grant recipient what the indirect cost cap should be,” Collins said.
Several senators said the plan was illegal because Congress has specified in law that the indirect cost formula may not be changed.
Bhattacharya acknowledged that universities do incur overhead costs when conducting vital research.
“But there’s a lot of distrust about where the money goes because the trust in the public health establishment has collapsed in the pandemic,” he said.
Bhattacharya said universities could solve the problem by being more transparent about how they spend the indirect cost allocations.
Marshall was critical of the current indirect cost formula.
“I think most of us understand that that’s just another grift for universities,” he said.
Marshall said indirect costs at Kansas universities were far lower than those in the handful of states that receive about two-thirds of NIH research money.
“Not every good scientific idea comes from the coast,” he said.
NIH, located in Bethesda, Maryland, includes 27 institutes focused on various aspects of health, including the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Mental Health.
If confirmed by the full Senate, Bhattacharya will join 20 confirmed Trump nominees, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees NIH.