Dr. Marty Makary is no longer leading the Food and Drug Administration, marking the fourth significant departure from President Donald Trump's cabinet this year.
Trump confirmed Makary's exit on Tuesday without clarifying whether he fired the commissioner or requested his resignation. "He's a great doctor and he was having some difficulty, but he's going to go on and he's going to do well," Trump told reporters.
The move followed reporting from NBC News that Trump had grown dissatisfied with Makary's performance and was weighing his removal. Politico first disclosed the story.
Makary's departure came just days after the FDA authorized fruit-flavored vapes for adults, a reversal that fulfilled one of Trump's 2024 campaign pledges after intense industry pressure and White House pressure on the agency.
The commissioner had also drawn fire from Republican lawmakers over commitments made during his confirmation hearing. He promised to review the safety profile of mifepristone, the abortion medication, following GOP efforts to overturn Biden-era rules allowing it to be mailed and dispensed remotely rather than delivered in person only.
The Supreme Court this month temporarily blocked a lower court ruling that would have restricted mifepristone access to in-person distribution, preserving nationwide availability for now. The FDA's safety review of the drug remains unreleased. Bloomberg News reported that Makary sought to delay its release until after the midterm elections.
Makary, a surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital and professor emeritus at its medical school, joins three other Trump administration officials who have left their posts since January. Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and former Attorney General Pam Bondi have both been fired. Former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez DeRemer resigned in April amid a misconduct investigation.
Dr. Ofer Levy, director of the Precision Vaccines Program at Boston Children's Hospital, said the FDA's next leader will inherit substantial challenges. "The challenges to human health are greater than ever," Levy said. "The hantavirus is just one example of how interconnected we are, and how one part of the world affects another part of the world."
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Another cabinet shake-up signals Trump won't tolerate resistance to his agenda, even from allies, and mifepristone clearly remains a flashpoint in his health policy fights."
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