FDA Commissioner Marty Makary Resigns; Food Deputy Kyle Diamantas Named Acting Head

Marty Makary resigned as commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, May 12, and Kyle Diamantas, the agency's deputy commissioner for food, will lead the FDA in an acting capacity, President Donald Trump said.

Trump confirmed the resignation to reporters at the White House before leaving for a trip to China, NPR reported in a story read via Michigan Public. "He was having some difficulty, you know, he's a great doctor, and he was having some difficulty. But he's going to go on and he's going to do well," Trump said, according to NPR. Later that afternoon Trump wrote on Truth Social that Diamantas would be acting head of the agency, NPR reported.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. thanked Makary in a social media statement and said the agency's "work continues without pause," Scientific American reported. "The search for a new Commissioner is already underway, and we will move forward with urgency," Kennedy wrote.

A lawyer from the foods program steps in

Diamantas has led the FDA's human foods work as deputy commissioner, and STAT described him as the agency's top food regulator. Healio identified him as Kyle Diamantas, JD. Politico was first to report the resignation, citing an administration official who said Kennedy had decided months earlier to move on from Makary but that the president also had to sign off, according to Healio.

The departure came after reports that Trump was weighing whether to fire Makary. Clinical Trials Arena, citing reports including the Wall Street Journal, said the dissatisfaction included his handling of decisions on fruit-flavored e-cigarettes and the abortion pill mifepristone. A federal health official who was not authorized to speak publicly told NPR that "it came down to the fruit-flavored vape issue."

Turnover at the top of the agency

Makary, a surgeon and health policy researcher at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine before joining the administration, was confirmed by the Senate on March 25, 2025, a week before mass firings by the Department of Government Efficiency left hundreds of positions at the regulator vacant, NPR reported. Among his efforts, NPR said, was a plan to consolidate the agency's separate voluntary reporting systems for adverse events involving drugs, devices and vaccines. He also pushed for single pivotal clinical trials in place of the usual two to speed drug approvals.

His exit follows other leadership changes. Vinay Prasad left his post as head of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research for the second time in April 2026, and the drug center has had several leaders since 2025, Clinical Trials Arena reported. The agency has also faced drug review delays that some attribute to the layoffs, the outlet said.

Arthur Caplan, head of the division of medical ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, told Healio that "other things have slowed down because of cuts in personnel," and that this makes the biotech and pharmaceutical industries anxious. A permanent commissioner must be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. No nominee had been named as of May 13.