Trump Says He's Not Replacing FDA Chief Makary

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

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.

A federal appeals court on May 1 blocked the mailing of mifepristone until the FDA can ensure the abortion drug is “safe and effective” for use in the United States. The Supreme Court later put the ruling on hold after pill maker Danco Laboratories requested an emergency stay.

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.

“FDA Commissioner Makary should be fired immediately. Indifference is completely unacceptable to millions of pro-life voters expecting the administration to act to save lives,” SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a May 4 statement.

“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.

Meanwhile, Dr. Vinay Prasad, the top vaccine official at the FDA, left the agency for a second time on April 30. Prasad served as head of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) before resigning from the role in July 2025. He subsequently rejoined the agency two weeks later at the FDA’s request.

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.