(Reuters) -The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday named Sean Keveney as its new chief counsel, placing him in charge of overseeing all legal matters at the health agency.
Keveney most recently served as acting general counsel at the Department of Health and Human Services, where he led legal efforts to implement key administration priorities and regulatory reforms under the Make America Healthy Again agenda.
Before joining HHS, Keveney spent nearly 16 years at the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.
He replaces Robert Foster, who was serving in an interim capacity following the abrupt resignation of former chief counsel Hilary Perkins, just two days after her appointment was announced.
Perkins stepped down after Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri criticized her selection, describing her as “pro-abortion” and supportive of vaccine mandates.
Foster, who has advised U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on vaccine regulation, will now assume the role of acting general counsel at HHS, the department confirmed.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi and Tasim Zahid)
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