Trump turns to critic of COVID mandates to run NIH

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya speaks during a roundtable discussion with members of the House Freedom Caucus on the COVID-19 pandemic at The Heritage Foundation in late 2022.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford health researcher, is in line to lead the National Institutes of Health. Early in the pandemic he argued against lockdowns and focusing on people at highest risk.

(Image credit: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call)