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Republican senators appear poised to help confirm President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration, even as some Democrats appear wary over what they see as repeated failures by the agency to rein in the opioid epidemic. Several Senate HELP Committee Republicans — including Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and Roger Marshall of Kansas — told POLITICO following Robert Califf’s confirmation hearing Tuesday they back returning the cardiologist to the commissioner post he held at the tail end of the Obama administration. Their support would likely push Califf through a committee vote and, later, a full Senate vote on the nomination. (Gardner, Lim and Foley, 12/14)

Robert Califf escaped largely unscathed from a two-hour hearing Tuesday vetting him to be commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. He gushed about his love of high-quality data, skillfully navigated questions on hot-button topics like abortion and drug pricing, and even had personal anecdotes about Covid-19 testing and opioid prescribing at the ready. His only stumble came when he clearly frustrated lawmakers with his responses to pointed questions about the FDA’s approach toward approving opioid drugs, including its general reluctance to crack down on long-term prescribing of opioids and its recent decisions to approve new high-dose opioids. (Florko, 12/14)

Ranking members of the panel expressed solid confidence in Dr. Califf, 70, signaling that his confirmation to the commissioner’s post for a second time might receive bipartisan support by the full Senate. Dr. Califf is familiar to most members of the Senate: He had been F.D.A. commissioner in the last year of the Obama administration, confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 89-to-4. If confirmed this time around, Dr. Califf would assume command of an agency that has been led on an interim basis by Dr. Janet Woodcock for nearly a year. It is unlikely that he would be confirmed before 2022, as the United States heads into its third pandemic year and anticipates vaccines for children younger than 5 and new Covid-19 treatments. (Jewett, 12/14)

Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Tuesday said they will oppose the nomination of Robert Califf to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), meaning he will need Republican support to get confirmed in the upper chamber. Califf, a cardiologist and Duke University researcher, was previously confirmed in 2016 when he was nominated by former President Obama. Since he left government, Califf has advised Google Health and its spinoff, Verily Life Sciences. (Weixel, 12/14)

The House cleared legislation early Wednesday morning to raise the debt limit through next year’s midterm elections, staving off an unprecedented federal default just in time for the deadline set by the Treasury Department. The bill, which lawmakers passed 221-209, with one Republican voting yes, raises the federal debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion to increase the limit to close to $31 trillion. ... “I want to be very clear: raising the debt ceiling is not about incurring new debts but rather enabling the federal government to keep its existing commitments. By raising the debt limit, we are meeting our existing obligations to members of the military, veterans and recipients of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security," said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), the chairman of the Joint Economic Committee. (Marcos and Folley, 12/15)

Congress early Wednesday voted to raise the nation's debt limit by $2.5 trillion, officially staving off default and the economic peril that would come if the U.S. were unable to pay its bills. The House passed the legislation early Wednesday in a vote of 221-209, hours after the Senate approved the measure in a 50-49 party-line vote. The bill now heads President Joe Biden's desk for signature. (Behrmann, 12/15)

News that inflation rose to a historic high in November probably comes as no surprise to retirees. But they may be in for another shock when they receive their monthly Social Security checks in January. The Social Security Administration announced in October that beneficiaries will get a 5.9% boost to their checks in 2022 — the biggest annual cost-of-living adjustment in four decades. Yet since then, another key measurement for inflation — the Consumer Price Index — has also reached historic highs. ... For retirees who have been living on a fixed income for a long period of time, higher prices can cut into their ability to pay for rent, food and prescriptions. (Konish, 12/14)