Biden’s Proposed Medical Research Head Nears Senate Confirmation

The White House’s pick to head the National Institutes of Health is nearing a final confirmation vote after members of a key Senate committee gave her bipartisan support over the chairman’s opposition.

The Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, on a 15-6 vote, agreed Wednesday to send Monica Bertagnolli’s nomination for confirmation on the Senate floor.

Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chairman of the HELP Committee, voted against Bertagnolli’s nomination. For months he had refused to hold a nomination hearing for Bertagnolli in an effort to get a deal with the White House on lowering the price of prescription drugs, and remained ...