The Administration · Out the door
Former FDA Commissioner Out the door
The Johns Hopkins surgeon ran the FDA for just over a year and resigned in May 2026 under pressure from the White House, vaping companies, drugmakers and anti-abortion groups.
Why they left: He resigned on May 12, 2026, after reports that the president had approved a plan to remove him and after a dispute over the authorization of fruit-flavored e-cigarettes. 2 3
Martin Makary was born in Liverpool, England, and studied at Bucknell University, Thomas Jefferson University and Harvard before training as a surgeon at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins. 1 He built a public profile as an author of books on hospital safety and health costs, including Unaccountable in 2012 and The Price We Pay in 2018, the year he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine. 1 He criticized parts of the federal COVID-19 response and supported the health secretary's Make America Healthy Again agenda. 2
Trump named him to lead the Food and Drug Administration in November 2024, and the Senate confirmed him 56-44 on March 25, 2025. 1 4 He launched more than half a dozen efforts to speed up drug reviews, including the use of artificial intelligence and fast-track vouchers, and moved to phase out petroleum-based food dyes. 3 1 He also signed a letter to doctors in September 2025 saying acetaminophen in pregnancy may be associated with autism while noting that no causal link was established. 5
His tenure was marked by turnover. The Associated Press reported that nearly all senior career officials left in the first year, that six people led the drug center in twelve months and that his chosen vaccine chief, Vinay Prasad, was pushed out twice. 3 Career staff told CBS News he micromanaged and announced initiatives without warning. 2 Anti-abortion groups accused him of slowing a review of the abortion pill mifepristone, and vaping executives complained to Trump that he was blocking their products. 2 3
He resigned on May 12, 2026, days after the agency authorized its first fruit-flavored e-cigarettes. 2 3 Trump posted the resignation text and named the agency's food chief, Kyle Diamantas, as acting commissioner. 2 No report of a new position for Makary was found in this research. 2
What happened while Marty held the post.
The FDA and the health department announced a plan to phase out petroleum-based synthetic food dyes. 1
With his vaccine chief Vinay Prasad, published a plan limiting routine COVID-19 vaccine approval to people over 65 or at high risk. 1
Sent an open letter to physicians saying acetaminophen use in pregnancy may be associated with autism, while stating that a causal relationship had not been established; announced the agency would approve leucovorin for some children with autism symptoms. 5
An internal memo by Prasad claimed, without published evidence, that the agency had linked COVID-19 shots to the deaths of 10 children; a dozen former commissioners denounced the vaccine overhaul it was used to justify. 3
The agency first refused to consider Moderna's mRNA flu shot, then reversed itself after the company sought White House help. 3
What critics, courts or investigators have said, and the answer given. An allegation is not a finding.
Accounts of his exit differ. NBC News, citing a person close to health department leadership, reported he quit because he opposed authorizing a fruit-flavored vape; Politico, citing a White House source, reported the health secretary made the decision and Trump signed off. 4
Their side: In the resignation text Trump posted, Makary called the job the honor of a lifetime; he gave no public account of the reasons in the sources reviewed. 2
Anti-abortion groups, including SBA Pro-Life America, called for his firing, saying he was slow-walking a safety review of mifepristone that the health secretary had requested in June 2025. 2
Their side: No public response found.
The attorney general said the Justice Department won't look into Means' allegations, which he called talk from "a podcast." That leaves Congress, soon to be run by Democrats, as the most likely place for any scrutiny of the White House.
File checked Nov. 13, 2026. Something wrong or out of date? Tell the desk.
