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Unable to tame inflation that has worsened sharply under his watch, President Joe Biden stressed Thursday that his administration’s policies would cut prescription drug prices and make life more affordable for families. His pitch, which he delivered at a community college in Culpeper, Virginia, came on the heels of a dire inflation report released earlier in the day. Consumer prices jumped 7.5% over the year ending in January, as the sources of inflation have broadened on a monthly basis with increases in the costs of rent, electricity, clothes and household furnishings. The pandemic disrupted supply chains and government aid boosted consumer demand, causing prices for gasoline, food and other goods such as autos to rise earlier this year. (Megerian and Boak, 2/10)

President Biden on Thursday called on the Senate to pass his currently-stalled Build Back Better legislation, touting that it would lower prescription drug prices, a popular issue ahead of the midterm elections.Biden traveled to the Virginia district of vulnerable Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger, saying that drug prices are “outrageously expensive” and calling for action. “In my Build Back Better legislation that with Abigail's leadership passed the House of Representatives, we can do that,” he said. “Now we just have to get it through the United States Senate, and we're close.” (Sullivan, 2/10)

Build Back Never? The thought has crossed Democrats’ minds. President Joe Biden’s $1.7 trillion social and climate spending plan is dead as written, rejected by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). The Senate is moving onto a host of other issues that will take up the rest of the winter and possibly some of the spring. And some Democrats concede there’s a small but distinct possibility they could have to shelve the whole endeavor indefinitely. (Everett, 2/10)

Eric Lander’s resignation as White House science adviser this week has only magnified the federal government’s void in scientific leadership, further calling into question the Biden administration’s ability to move forward on a number of signature research proposals. Lander’s departure as director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy amid a workplace abuse scandal leaves vacancies at three key scientific agencies: OSTP, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health. (Facher, 2/10)

The Biden administration and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) are charging ahead with a high-stakes vote on Robert Califf, Biden’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration. On Thursday, Schumer took the first procedural step toward holding a Senate vote on Califf’s nomination, setting up an initial vote early next week that will be a crucial litmus test for the confirmation. The decision to call the vote is a bold move, since Califf’s confirmation could come down to a single vote. Roughly a dozen Democratic senators were still undecided on Califf’s candidacy just last week, and Republicans have largely declined to say how they will vote on him. At least five Democrats have said they outright oppose him. (Cohrs, 2/10)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: FDA Takes Center Stage 

The FDA is still lacking a Senate-confirmed leader, but the agency is at the center of several major policy battles. Lawmakers this year must renew the bill that authorizes drug companies to pay “user fees,” which enable the agency to hire additional reviewers to speed the approval of drugs. The FDA is also increasingly involved in the abortion debate and the effort to treat the millions of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease. Meanwhile, states led by Democrats are starting to relax some covid restrictions, even as officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention complain it’s too soon. (2/10)