New FDA commissioner agreed to oust top vaccine regulator after private swearing-in

Source: Politico

03/31/2025 02:26 PM EDT


Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary signed off on the ouster of top vaccine official Peter Marks shortly after being quietly sworn in as the agency’s new leader late last week, four people familiar with the matter told POLITICO.

The forced removal was Makary’s first major act as commissioner and sent a powerful signal to a stunned Washington that was already anxious about the role vaccine skepticism would play under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Health and Human Services Department. Makary and Kennedy had previously agreed to push out Marks, who led the FDA’s vaccine division for more than eight years, as part of a broader overhaul of HHS leadership.

The decision has alarmed lawmakers and the pharmaceutical industry, who see it as an effort by Kennedy to lay the groundwork for remaking the government’s approach to vaccines after years of sowing doubts about the shots.

While Kennedy made the final call to force Marks’ exit, he did so only after Makary consented, said the people familiar, who were granted anonymity to discuss private deliberations. Makary was sworn in late last week, according to multiple people granted anonymity to discuss the timing.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/31/new-fda-commissioner-signed-off-on-ousting-top-vaccine-regulator-after-private-swearing-in-00260582