Trump Approves Plan to Replace FDA Commissioner Marty Makary

President Donald Trump has signed off on a plan to oust US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, according to a senior administration official. The decision follows mounting criticism from Trump aides and outside allies over Makary’s management of the FDA, his controversial drug approval decisions and his handling of an effort to further limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone.

Trump has not yet formally dismissed Makary, and the senior administration official cautioned that the president could still change his mind. Senior White House staffers are scheduled to meet with anti-abortion activists on Friday evening. Those activists have sharply criticized both Makary and Trump personally over a lack of action on restricting mifepristone.

Trump and other aides have increasingly discussed the prospect of removing Makary in recent weeks. During that period Trump aides surveyed outside allies about his job performance while fielding complaints about the FDA from pharmaceutical industry officials and anti-abortion groups. The Wall Street Journal first reported the plan to remove Makary.

Makary was recently pressured by Trump to authorize flavored vapes, according to a White House source. Should Trump follow through on the ouster it would create another vacancy at the top ranks of the Department of Health and Human Services with just months to go until the midterm elections.

The department already lacks a permanent director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a permanent surgeon general.

The FDA also lacks a top vaccine regulator following the recent departure of Vinay Prasad, a close Makary ally who faced separate criticism over his leadership and vaccine policy decisions. In a separate high-profile dispute, lawyers faced off in a Colorado courthouse on Thursday over the future of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, described as the global “mothership” of climate science.

Protesters had gathered late last year in Boulder to oppose the Trump administration’s plans to dismantle the center.

The courtroom battle is one of the highest-profile clashes yet between the US research community and the administration of President Donald Trump. On trade policy, Trump’s trade chief stated that the US wants balanced trade rather than any change to China’s system.

In recent weeks Trump has said Cuba’s political system needs to change dramatically and has declared that the US will be doing something with Cuba very soon.

The United States and South Africa held their highest-level meeting so far this year in Johannesburg to discuss potential resource deals in critical minerals.