Senior officials told the Washington Examiner that Kyle Diamantas, the FDA deputy commissioner for human foods, will be stepping into the senior role. He is one of the architects of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which has been branded a major policy victory for the Make America Healthy Again coalition.

Makary, previously a Johns Hopkins University professor of surgery, has been at the center of a number of conflicts in recent weeks, including over vaping, abortion, and drug policy.

Trump declined to answer whether he requested Makary’s resignation but said the commissioner “was having some difficulty.”

“Marty’s a great guy, he’s a friend of mine,” Trump said.

Trump said the administration will not have problems finding another FDA commissioner, saying “everybody wants that job.”

The news broke before Makary was scheduled to testify in front of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday morning to defend the president’s 2027 budget proposal for his agency.

The various headaches for the administration coming from the FDA have been a sore spot for the Department of Health and Human Services and the White House, as GOP advisers have been reshaping the party’s healthcare agenda ahead of the midterm elections.

Earlier this month, Trump reportedly criticized Makary for failing to approve fruit-flavored vape products, which critics say will entice children and adolescents to take up nicotine.

Shortly thereafter, the FDA announced the approval of four new vape flavors, including, for the first time, two fruit-flavored products: blueberry and mango.

Anti-abortion advocates within the GOP have also increased pressure on the administration to fire Makary over the agency’s decision not to reinstitute in-person dispensing requirements for the abortion pill mifepristone.

The FDA removed the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone in 2023, during the Biden administration, allowing the abortion medication to be bought and sold online.

Conservative Republicans and the anti-abortion lobby also slammed the Trump administration in October 2025 when Makary and FDA staff approved a new generic version of mifepristone.

Anti-abortion advocates contend that not reversing the Biden-era rule change to restore in-person screening mandates will hurt the GOP in the midterm elections by depressing voter turnout.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, criticized Makary’s record on abortion after Trump’s announcement Tuesday. “Dr. Makary was part of a broader symptom of an administration that has not paid attention to pro-life issues,” Cassidy posted on X. “I care deeply about life, and I anticipate the next FDA nominee shall as well.”

Pharmaceutical companies have also put pressure on the Trump administration to axe Makary after a series of high-profile conflicts over the agency’s approval processes, which industry advocates argue have created a culture of unpredictability at the regulatory agency.

Makary’s backing of Dr. Vinay Prasad, whom he hand-selected to be the agency’s head of vaccines and gene therapies, has been a sore spot between the agency and the industry.

Prasad, who left the agency on Thursday, shocked the pharmaceutical industry by not approving Moderna’s new flu vaccine after the company followed instructions laid out by the Biden administration for safety and efficacy testing. Prasad also clashed with developers of novel treatments for rare diseases, despite promising to fast-track cures.

Roger Bate, a health economist with the right-of-center think tank International Center for Law and Economics, told the Washington Examiner that he did not believe Makary properly served the Make America Healthy Again agenda and instead led the agency by “substituting his own judgment for a clear policy mandate.”

“He ignored strong evidence on drugs and tobacco harm reduction, particularly vapes, missing a critical opportunity to advance effective, evidence-based public health policy,” Bate said.

Makary is the third Senate-confirmed HHS official to leave the department.

Last summer, Trump fired the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, Susan Monarez, following a public disagreement with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his requests to change the childhood vaccine schedule.

Former HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill, who replaced Monarez in an acting capacity from August 2025 until March, was abruptly removed from the department this spring and installed as the director of the National Science Foundation instead.

FDA CHIEF MARTY MAKARY UNDER FIRE FROM MULTIPLE DIRECTION

The HHS leadership team has also been missing a surgeon general for the entirety of Trump’s second term. The president’s first two nominees for the post, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat and Dr. Casey Means, did not have the support within the Senate to progress through the confirmation process.

It is speculated that Trump will replace Makary with Kyle Diamantas, the FDA deputy commissioner for human foods and one of the chief architects of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which has been branded a major policy victory for the MAHA coalition.

White House Reporter Christian Datoc contributed to this report.