Dr. Marty Makary is scrambling to hang onto his powers as the Food and Drug Administration commissioner as Health and Human Services head Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ponders making the Donald Trump appointee a mere figurehead instead of an administrator.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal’s Liz Essley Whyte, Makary’s management style is not meshing with his deputies which has led to “infighting” within the agency which had Kennedy proposing scaling back his duties.
The Journal is reporting, “Makary pushed back on the idea, people familiar with the matter said. The officials decided to drop the idea for now, giving Makary time to improve his leadership of the agency, those people said. Kennedy remains personally loyal to Makary and wants him to succeed, the people said, though they said the secretary had concerns about how the agency is being run.”
At the center of the chaos are two of Makary appointees, biologics center director Vinay Prasad, and the drugs director, George Tidmarsh, who set off a series of clashes with Tidmarsh resigning under a cloud.
The Journal’s’ Whyte is reporting, “Those staffing challenges caught the attention of some officials at the White House and HHS. Kennedy had a series of meetings in the days following Tidmarsh’s departure this month to discuss concerns about Makary’s management, according to people familiar with the matter,” adding, “Health officials told Kennedy that top FDA staff often had difficulty reaching Makary, who avoided email and meetings with some FDA division directors, according to people familiar with the matter.”
The report adds that changes that Kennedy pondered come at a time when the agency is undergoing turmoil with a change in mission under the Trump administration, combined with mass layoffs — also a Trump priority.
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