Vivek Murthy returns to a position he knows well, U. S. surgeon general. He was confirmed by the Senate late Tuesday by a vote of 57 to 43. The 43-year-old also served in the same role during the Obama administration, a job he kept until early in the Trump administration.
The surgeon general, also known as the “nation’s doctor,” typically serves as a prominent spokesperson on public health issues but has a limited role in policymaking. But Biden has pledged that Murthy — who advised him in the Obama White House, on the board of the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware and, most recently, during the presidential campaign and transition — will have an expanded role in his administration.
During his confirmation hearings, Murthy said his focus would be on Covid, mental health and substance abuse.
“We cannot neglect the other public health crises that have been exacerbated by this pandemic, particularly the opioid epidemic, mental illness and racial and geographic health inequities.”
