SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Democratic Presidential hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren gestures as she speaks during a town hall meeting at Florida International University in Miami, Florida on June 25, 2019. (Photo: Rhona Wise / AFP)
After Trump's Former FDA Chief Quietly Joins Pfizer Board, Warren Calls for Resignation 'Immediately'
"I ask that you reconsider this decision," 2020 candidate tells former Trump official
Jul 02, 2019
Maybe Scott Gottleib thought he could avoid scrutiny by making the move to the board of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer just over two months after leaving his position as President Donald Trump's commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration--but if so, he didn't count on Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
"Philosophically, [Gottleib is] returning to the ecosystem where he's most comfortable. And he'll get paid very well for it, too."
--Sidney Wolfe, Public Citizen
Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts who is also running for her party's nomination for president in 2020, released a letter (pdf) Tuesday morning calling on Gottleib to step down from the board in the name of government ethics.
"You will be on the board of a company that has billions of dollars at stake in the decisions made by the agency you used to head and the employees you used to lead," states Warren's letter.
It's a profitable venture for Gottleib.
"According to Pfizer," Warren notes, "board members in 2018 were paid $142,500 in cash retainers, plus received $192,500 worth of Pfizer stock."
Appointed by Trump, Gottleib was the head of the FDA from 2017 until he resigned on April 5 of this year. After leaving the government, he took a job with right-wing think tank The American Enterprise Institute. The move to Pfizer, however, came later and was only announced on June 27.
In Warren's letter, which Common Dreams obtained exclusively and is reproduced below, the senator refers favorably to Gottleib's work with the FDA before hitting him on joining Pfizer and tying that move to the behavior of other officials in President Donald Trump's White House who have left the administration for big money payouts.
"You are the second high-level Trump Administration official in less than two months to join the board of a corporation soon after leaving government service," reads the letter. "In May 2019, former Trump Administration DHS Secretary and Chief of Staff John Kelly joined the board of Caliburn, Inc., the parent company of the Comprehensive Health Services, which runs the notorious Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children in Florida."
"You should rectify your mistake and immediately resign from your position as a Pfizer board member," Warren adds.
Warren's letter cites her Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act as a possible solution to government officials behaving in this way in the future. As Common Dreams reported in June, Warren and the legislation's sponsor in the House, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), see the problem as systemic to Washington's public-private revolving door. Rep. John Sabarnes (D-Md.) is co-sponsoring Jayapal's version of the law.
Gottleib's move to Pfizer was also noticed by Public Citizen Health Research Group co-founder Sidney Wolfe.
"This is classic and it's not surprising," Wolfe told health news site Stat. "Philosophically, he's returning to the ecosystem where he's most comfortable. And he'll get paid very well for it, too."
Read Warren's letter:
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Maybe Scott Gottleib thought he could avoid scrutiny by making the move to the board of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer just over two months after leaving his position as President Donald Trump's commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration--but if so, he didn't count on Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
"Philosophically, [Gottleib is] returning to the ecosystem where he's most comfortable. And he'll get paid very well for it, too."
--Sidney Wolfe, Public Citizen
Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts who is also running for her party's nomination for president in 2020, released a letter (pdf) Tuesday morning calling on Gottleib to step down from the board in the name of government ethics.
"You will be on the board of a company that has billions of dollars at stake in the decisions made by the agency you used to head and the employees you used to lead," states Warren's letter.
It's a profitable venture for Gottleib.
"According to Pfizer," Warren notes, "board members in 2018 were paid $142,500 in cash retainers, plus received $192,500 worth of Pfizer stock."
Appointed by Trump, Gottleib was the head of the FDA from 2017 until he resigned on April 5 of this year. After leaving the government, he took a job with right-wing think tank The American Enterprise Institute. The move to Pfizer, however, came later and was only announced on June 27.
In Warren's letter, which Common Dreams obtained exclusively and is reproduced below, the senator refers favorably to Gottleib's work with the FDA before hitting him on joining Pfizer and tying that move to the behavior of other officials in President Donald Trump's White House who have left the administration for big money payouts.
"You are the second high-level Trump Administration official in less than two months to join the board of a corporation soon after leaving government service," reads the letter. "In May 2019, former Trump Administration DHS Secretary and Chief of Staff John Kelly joined the board of Caliburn, Inc., the parent company of the Comprehensive Health Services, which runs the notorious Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children in Florida."
"You should rectify your mistake and immediately resign from your position as a Pfizer board member," Warren adds.
Warren's letter cites her Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act as a possible solution to government officials behaving in this way in the future. As Common Dreams reported in June, Warren and the legislation's sponsor in the House, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), see the problem as systemic to Washington's public-private revolving door. Rep. John Sabarnes (D-Md.) is co-sponsoring Jayapal's version of the law.
Gottleib's move to Pfizer was also noticed by Public Citizen Health Research Group co-founder Sidney Wolfe.
"This is classic and it's not surprising," Wolfe told health news site Stat. "Philosophically, he's returning to the ecosystem where he's most comfortable. And he'll get paid very well for it, too."
Read Warren's letter:
Maybe Scott Gottleib thought he could avoid scrutiny by making the move to the board of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer just over two months after leaving his position as President Donald Trump's commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration--but if so, he didn't count on Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
"Philosophically, [Gottleib is] returning to the ecosystem where he's most comfortable. And he'll get paid very well for it, too."
--Sidney Wolfe, Public Citizen
Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts who is also running for her party's nomination for president in 2020, released a letter (pdf) Tuesday morning calling on Gottleib to step down from the board in the name of government ethics.
"You will be on the board of a company that has billions of dollars at stake in the decisions made by the agency you used to head and the employees you used to lead," states Warren's letter.
It's a profitable venture for Gottleib.
"According to Pfizer," Warren notes, "board members in 2018 were paid $142,500 in cash retainers, plus received $192,500 worth of Pfizer stock."
Appointed by Trump, Gottleib was the head of the FDA from 2017 until he resigned on April 5 of this year. After leaving the government, he took a job with right-wing think tank The American Enterprise Institute. The move to Pfizer, however, came later and was only announced on June 27.
In Warren's letter, which Common Dreams obtained exclusively and is reproduced below, the senator refers favorably to Gottleib's work with the FDA before hitting him on joining Pfizer and tying that move to the behavior of other officials in President Donald Trump's White House who have left the administration for big money payouts.
"You are the second high-level Trump Administration official in less than two months to join the board of a corporation soon after leaving government service," reads the letter. "In May 2019, former Trump Administration DHS Secretary and Chief of Staff John Kelly joined the board of Caliburn, Inc., the parent company of the Comprehensive Health Services, which runs the notorious Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children in Florida."
"You should rectify your mistake and immediately resign from your position as a Pfizer board member," Warren adds.
Warren's letter cites her Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act as a possible solution to government officials behaving in this way in the future. As Common Dreams reported in June, Warren and the legislation's sponsor in the House, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), see the problem as systemic to Washington's public-private revolving door. Rep. John Sabarnes (D-Md.) is co-sponsoring Jayapal's version of the law.
Gottleib's move to Pfizer was also noticed by Public Citizen Health Research Group co-founder Sidney Wolfe.
"This is classic and it's not surprising," Wolfe told health news site Stat. "Philosophically, he's returning to the ecosystem where he's most comfortable. And he'll get paid very well for it, too."
Read Warren's letter:
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.