President Donald Trump is preparing to fire Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, according to multiple outlets, after months of controversy at one of the largest subagencies of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Makary and the FDA have been at the center of several headaches for the White House, including over vaping, abortion, and drug policy, becoming a liability as Republicans try to focus on healthcare policy successes ahead of the midterm elections.
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Makary, a former professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins University, rose to prominence outside of medical academia as a critic of the Biden administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. But while in office, Makary has reportedly been seen by White House advisers as having trouble leading the sprawling 16,000-employee agency.
Makary has faced pressure from multiple angles in recent weeks, including complaints from the pharmaceutical industry over being too stringent with clinical trial data for rare disease treatments and gene therapies.
More recently, Trump himself reportedly became frustrated with Makary for his agency’s failure to act swiftly on approving new vaping products, including fruit-flavored vapes that critics argue will be too attractive for children.
Within hours of the first media report of Trump’s displeasure on Monday, the FDA announced that it would be approving four new vaping flavors, including blueberry and mango.
On top of this, the anti-abortion movement has been increasingly loud in its demands for the president to fire Makary for failing to tighten rules on the abortion pill mifepristone.
SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser recently renewed her call for Makary to be fired following reports that Makary and others at HHS have been slow-walking a long-promised study on the safety of the abortion pill until after the midterm elections.
Makary would add to the list of HHS officials under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who have been ousted.
Last summer, Trump fired the Senate-confirmed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, Susan Monarez, following a public spat with Kennedy regarding his requested changes to the childhood vaccine schedule.
Former HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill served as the acting CDC director from August 2025 until March, when he was abruptly removed from the post and installed instead as the director of the National Science Foundation.
FDA CHIEF MARTY MAKARY UNDER FIRE FROM MULTIPLE DIRECTIONS
Kennedy’s HHS leadership team has also been missing a surgeon general since Trump took office last year, as the president’s nominees for the top public health spokesperson position have had repeated difficulties making it past Senate confirmation.
White House spokesman Kush Desai told the Washington Examiner in response to speculation about Makary’s firing that Trump “has assembled the most experienced and talented administration in history, an administration that continues to focus on delivering more historic victories for the American people.”
