The Biden administration is facing an uphill battle to get enough votes to confirm it nominee, Dr. Robert Califf, to run the Food and Drug Administration.

Califf was chosen to lead the agency during the final year of the Obama administration, during which he was confirmed by a heavily bipartisan Senate vote of 89-4.

The Duke University cardiologist and researcher was not meant to be a controversial pick to run the agency that has now been without a permanent leader for more than a year, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.