Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary will leave his role, President Donald Trump said Tuesday.
Makary’s departure comes after pressure within the administration to step down over a variety of issues, from abortion medication to flavored vapes.
FDA Deputy Commissioner for Food Kyle Diamantas will lead the agency in an acting capacity. He joined the FDA in February 2025 and before that was a partner at the law firm Jones Day.
“Marty’s a great guy,” Trump told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “He’s going to be off, and the assistant — the deputy is taking over temporarily.” Trump added that “everybody wants that job,” as permanent commissioner.
A Health and Human Services Department spokesperson did not return multiple requests for comment.
The FDA has faced a turbulent time during the Trump administration, marked by massive cuts last year at the hands of the Department of Government Efficiency. The FDA lost about 20 percent of its original staffing levels through the DOGE effort, and faced an exodus of senior officials that typically stay through a change of administration.
Makary had reportedly sparred with senior leaders and the White House over not moving fast enough to approve flavored vapes. He also faced backlash after the FDA rejected a Moderna mRNA flu vaccine, citing concerns about the design of a study. The agency reversed course earlier this year and agreed to review the application.
Makary’s exit also comes as his senior leadership team was not yet in place. The agency has no permanent directors for the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research and the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. It is also without a permanent principal deputy commissioner.
Makary was scheduled to appear before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Wednesday to discuss the president’s 2027 budget proposal. It’s unclear if another agency official will testify in his place.
Anti-abortion advocates last year cheered a decision by the FDA signed by Makary to reexamine whether the agency’s drug safety program is sufficiently protecting women from risks from the abortion medication mifepristone.
But shortly after that review was announced, the FDA then approved a generic form of mifepristone, spurring those same groups to call for Makary’s resignation. Those calls have only grown louder as the Supreme Court considers whether to end medication abortion by telemedicine.
Democrats often sparred with Makary over deep staffing cuts at the agency. He said during a hearing last year that the reductions in force and early retirements hadn’t impacted critical operations like drug approvals or food safety inspections.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, cheered Makary’s departure on the social platform X, saying the FDA commissioner didn’t do enough to restrict access to abortion.
“Dr. Makary was part of a broader symptom of an administration that has not paid attention to pro-life issues. I care deeply about life, and I anticipate the next FDA nominee shall as well,” he said.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., a vocal anti-abortion advocate, also welcomed the departure.
“Dr. Makary was uniquely destructive to the prolife movement. He attempted to place pro-abortion lawyers in key positions,” Hawley wrote on X. “He froze out prolife leaders and repeatedly stonewalled Congress. His resignation is an opportunity for the FDA to reset.”
Makary’s exit comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been left without a permanent head for nine months. A confirmation hearing date hasn’t been set for Trump’s most recent pick, Erica Schwartz.
The surgeon general job has also been vacant for the entirety of the second Trump administration, with Nicole Saphier, Trump’s third pick for the position, also awaiting Senate confirmation.
The vacancies continue as concerns over pandemic preparedness rise amid an outbreak of hantavirus that started on a Dutch cruise ship this month.
