Senate confirms Dr. Vivek Murthy as US surgeon general
Murthy was a top health adviser to the Biden campaign. He was part of Biden’s public health advisory committee as the pandemic first took hold in the US and served as a co-chair of the President-elect’s Covid-19 advisory board during the transition.
Two sources familiar with the matter told CNN in December that Murthy is expected to have an expanded portfolio in the Biden administration. As surgeon general under President Barack Obama, a position he held from 2014 to 2017, Murthy helped lead the national response to the Ebola and Zika viruses and the opioid crisis, among other health challenges.
Murthy faced opposition from some Republicans during his Senate confirmation process in 2014 because of his characterization of gun violence in the US as a public health crisis. He was ultimately narrowly confirmed.
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