New FDA head Gottlieb lifts hiring freeze

Newly assigned FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb is lifting the hiring freeze enacted in January by the Trump Administration, according to a new report.

The announcement was made at the hearing of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence report.

In April, the Trump administration said it would end the hiring freeze at agencies who created plans outlining workforce reductions and cost savings by June 30.

Gottlieb said that the FDA was moving forward and beginning to fill vacancies, which he had told FDA employees earlier in the day, according to the report.

“One of my highest priorities is to ensure that the FDA is well staffed in order to meet the challenges posed by scientific innovation, globalization, and the increasing breadth and complexity of the products that we regulate,” Gottlieb said in a memo, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Senate voted 57-42 to confirm Dr. Scott Gottlieb as FDA commissioner.

Gottlieb, 44, is a former FDA deputy commissioner who has advocated a loosening of requirements needed for approval of new medical products. He is also a resident fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank, a partner at venture capital firm New Enterprise Assoc., and sits on the boards of multiple healthcare companies. The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee approved Gottlieb on a 14-9 vote last month.

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