Food and Drug Administration commissioner Marty Makary resigned Tuesday after a 13-month tenure marked by repeated friction with the White House, Congress and industry, the Guardian reported. Kyle Diamantas, a top food-policy official at the agency, will serve as acting commissioner, and
Donald Trump called him "a very talented person" in a Truth Social post confirming the change.
Trump signed off on a plan to fire Makary earlier this month after scolding the FDA chief for not approving fruit-flavored vapes, the Guardian reported, citing a Wall Street Journal account. Asked about Makary on Friday,
Trump said "he seems fine" and, pressed on whether he would dismiss him, said "I've been reading about it, but I know nothing about it." On Tuesday
Trump told reporters at the White House that Makary is "a great guy" but "was having some difficulty," and thanked him on Truth Social for what he called "a great job at the FDA." Politico first reported the resignation.
Makary's resignation message, shared by
Trump on Truth Social, said he had announced "50 major FDA reforms" and that "
Joe Biden's FDA had none." Makary listed reductions in drug review times "from a year to 1-2 months," a "plausible mechanism" pathway for rare-disease drugs, new guidance on psychedelics and revised estrogen labels among his accomplishments. He had also clashed with lawmakers over a review of mifepristone, the Guardian reported, and had initially overridden agency scientists to halt approval of the first fruit-flavored vape.
Figures referenced: Donald Trump, Joe Biden. — JudgeMarket.