Trump drove firing of FDA official

Source: Politico

07/30/2025 07:52 PM EDT


President Donald Trump overruled his health secretary and FDA chief on Tuesday, and ordered the removal of the government’s top vaccine regulator, four people with knowledge of the decision told POLITICO.

The four, granted anonymity to speak about the details of Trump’s decision, said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary opposed dismissing Vinay Prasad, who had been on the job three months and had recently come under attack by right-wing provocateur Laura Loomer. “I worry now RFK will get hardcore anti-vaxxers in there,” one of the four said.

Prasad could not be reached for comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. A close Trump ally, Loomer’s efforts against Prasad began in earnest on July 20 when she wrote on her website that Prasad, a hematologist-oncologist, was a “progressive leftist saboteur undermining President Trump’s FDA.”

Within days, she and other conservative voices — including former GOP Sen. Rick Santorum and The Wall Street Journal editorial board — slammed Prasad’s stewardship of rare disease therapies under his center’s purview, arguing his approach threatened patient choice.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/30/white-house-drove-prasad-firing-despite-rfk-jr-makary-concerns-00485972