President Donald Trump is planning to fire Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, according to reports.
People familiar with the president’s plan told The Wall Street Journal that Trump has signed off on a plan to let the commissioner go.
The plan, however, is not final.
Makary, a surgical oncologist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, was nominated by Trump in November 2024 and confirmed as FDA commissioner in March 2025.
If Trump’s plan is carried out, Makary would be the latest top health official to be fired since CDC Director Susan Monarez was let go last summer and Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill was fired in February.
As the FDA commissioner, Makary is responsible for the agency that handles regulation and approval of human and veterinary medications, vaccines, medical devices, America’s food and ingredients, cosmetics and tobacco.
White House spokesman Kush Desai told the Journal: ‘President 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.’
Daily Mail contacted the FDA for comment but has not received a response.
As the FDA commissioner, Marty Makary is responsible for the agency that handles regulation and approval of human and veterinary medications, vaccines, medical devices, America’s food and ingredients, cosmetics and tobacco
Rumors of a potential Makary firing have been reportedly circulating and intensifying in recent weeks as the commissioner has clashed with the president on several health initiatives.
People familiar with the matter also told the Journal Trump lashed out at Makary last week for not moving quickly enough to approve flavored vapes and nicotine products.
In February, Makary refused to authorize blueberry and mango vape flavors, worried that the sweet varieties would encourage young people and teens to take up the potentially dangerous habit.
However, after pressure from the president, Makary eventually authorized the flavors.
Makary has also been plagued by turnover among FDA leadership and widespread layoffs at the hand of Trump’s DOGE.
People familiar with the matter have also said leaders in the pharmaceutical industry have complained about the commissioner.
Makary has been a prominent Make America Healthy Again figure and first publicly joined the movement when he joined HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr in September 2024 for a Senate panel on nutrition.
While he is an ally of RFK Jr, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dr Mehmet Oz and National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, he has increasingly become more isolated at the FDA as he’s clashed with leaders and is relying on a smaller circle of advisers, people familiar with the situation added to the Journal.
