President Donald Trump said on May 8 that he has no plans to replace Marty Makary as commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
When asked by reporters outside the White House about Makary, Trump responded: “Nothing much, he’s doing fine,” without elaborating further.
Trump said he had seen reports suggesting the administration was planning to remove Makary from his role leading the FDA, but added that he knows "nothing about it.”
The president also rejected the notion that he would hire someone new to replace Makary.
Amid the media speculation, White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement to multiple news outlets that Trump “has assembled the most experienced and talented administration in history.”
Several media outlets, citing unnamed sources, on May 8 stated that the president intends to remove Makary after controversies surrounding abortion drug mifepristone.
Mifepristone has long been available to women after consulting with doctors. In 2023, federal authorities enabled access via mail and at pharmacies.
In its May 1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said mifepristone could not be shipped because the FDA “conceded it had failed to adequately study whether remotely prescribing mifepristone is safe.”
Susan B. Anthony (SBA) Pro-Life America had previously called for Makary’s removal, accusing him of being indifferent toward calls for stricter regulations on abortion drugs.
“More than 90,000 abortions occur each year just in states that protect babies in the law throughout all nine months of pregnancy—a direct result of Biden’s COVID-era mail-order abortion drug rule, which the Trump administration inexplicably allows to continue.”
The Epoch Times has reached out to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA, for comment.
Katherine Szarama, who had been CBER’s deputy director, has been elevated to acting director of the center following Prasad’s departure, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.