Food and Drug Administration chief is leaving after angering pharma CEOs, vaping lobbyists and anti-abortion groups

WASHINGTON (AP) — Marty Makary is resigning as President Donald Trump’s Food and Drug Administration head. That’s according to a White House official who was not authorized to speak before an official announcement and insisted on anonymity Tuesday (May 12, 2026). The surgeon and health researcher’s tenure had drawn complaints from health industry executives, anti-abortion activists and other Trump allies. Makary came to the attention of Republican operatives as an outspoken critic of COVID-19 health measures during the pandemic when he appeared frequently on Fox News Channel. But at the FDA, Makary failed to win the staff’s confidence after mass layoffs, leadership changes and a series of controversies in which the agency’s scientific principles appeared to be overridden by political interests.