Makary stepped down after the FDA reversed course on fruit-flavored e-cigarettes following direct pressure from President Donald Trump
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary resigned Tuesday after clashing with President Donald Trump over the agency's regulation of flavored e-cigarettes, according to ABC News.
Kyle Diamantas, the FDA's chief for foods and an attorney with personal ties to Donald Trump Jr., will serve as acting commissioner, according to the Los Angeles Times. A permanent replacement must be nominated by Trump and confirmed by the Senate.
At a May 3 meeting at his Jupiter, Fla., golf club, Trump sat down with tobacco executives and lobbyists who raised objections to FDA oversight of the vaping industry, according to The New York Times. Trump then called Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz, the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to complain about FDA e-cigarette regulation. Within days, the FDA had issued guidance opening the door to flavored vape sales for major tobacco companies — a move the Times reported circumvented the agency's standard rule-making procedures. According to the Times, Makary pushed back against the new direction even as his allies at HHS withdrew their support, while department staff worked separately to put the revised policy together.
The FDA announced authorization of its first fruit-flavored e-cigarettes for adult smokers in early May, a reversal of previous policy, according to the AP. Glas Inc., a Los Angeles-based company, makes the newly cleared products, which are available in mango and blueberry flavors as well as two menthol options. Until this decision, regulatory clearance for vaping products had been limited to tobacco and menthol flavors, the AP reported.
Trump told reporters Tuesday that Makary was "a great guy" but acknowledged he was "having some difficulty," according to ABC News. In a post on X $TWTR, Kennedy praised Makary's service, crediting him with championing the MAHA cause and quoting him as someone who "took on entrenched interests" and "never lost sight of the American people we serve," according to ABC News.
During his roughly year-long tenure, Makary — a surgeon who was confirmed to lead the FDA in March 2025 — drew sustained criticism from drug industry executives, abortion opponents, and the vaping lobby, according to the Los Angeles Times. The agency's drug center cycled through six different directors during his watch, while widespread staff exits and a deepening morale crisis further destabilized the FDA, the Los Angeles Times reported.
CBS News reported that Trump had signed off on removing Makary from his post, though the commissioner stepped down on his own before any official termination took place.
