Marty Makary Could Get the Boot for Being Too Slow to Attack Abortion Access

Various reports are alleging FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary is just centimeters away from getting the boot—and at this point, I assume he’s kicking himself for getting chummy with the reproductive fascists that probably helped to get him in this position. Womp, womp! 

Ahead of the weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported that, per people familiar with the matter, Trump has officially signed off on a plan to fire Makary, amid controversy on how the commissioner’s handled abortion, drug policies, and vaping. (When asked by the WSJ about this plan, Trump—pulling a Mike Johnson—said: “I know nothing.”) The report’s since been corroborated by multiple other outlets, including Politico, which reported that Makary’s potential ousting was the “culmination of a campaign” conducted by senior leaders at the Department of Health and Human Services. 

Much of the frustration towards Makary has been over his reported slow-walking on curtailing—or rather, eliminating—access to mifepristone, the first of two pills taken in a medication abortion. (Amid the coming midterms, generally, the administration has been awkward about targeting abortion access—especially given most Americans on both sides of the aisle support reproductive rights.)

A little over a year ago, Makary received a letter from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), amplifying a bogus “study” by the far-right think tank Ethics and Public Policy Center, claiming mifepristone is unsafe. (This “study” was not actually a study, but a data analysis. It was never peer-reviewed, it was published by a far-right think tank with ties to Project 2025, and it’s been denounced by over 200 experts.) Makary agreed to look into the pill in June, and officially launched a re-review in September.

In December, however, Bloomberg reported that Makary was dragging his feet on releasing the results until after the midterms. This dawdling brought forth first some pick-me letters from Hawley… before the senator started turning to all-out rage. 

“I think that this safety study is a dead end,” Hawley told other GOP senators in a February rant session about Makary’s slow-walking, which was organized by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.). “I just think that FDA is not serious about it. I don’t think that they’re proceeding with any sense of urgency whatsoever. If they’re really proceeding at all. I frankly can’t tell.” 

Sigh. Now, here’s your regularly scheduled reminder that mifepristone is safe, was deemed safe from 2011 to 2023, and was deemed safe by actual scientific studies at the FDA, aka nothing politically motivated. (This very obvious statement was confirmed in an actual scientific study, published in JAMA earlier this year.) On top of all this, there’s nothing that really suggests mifepristone shouldn’t be an over-the-counter pill. But anti-abortion advocates have tripped over themselves trying to get it banned through any means necessary, and most recently, a federal appeals court tried to unilaterally block it from being dispensed via telehealth—though that decision was reversed by the Supreme Court.

On Thursday, Marjorie Dannenfelser—the leader of anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America—called for Makary to be fired, most notably because the commissioner reportedly said last year that he doesn’t “think” about the abortion pill or its safety restrictions. Hawley himself has not called for Makary’s firing, but has been a vocal critic of his leadership, at one point calling the slow-walking “totally unacceptable.” What can you say? There’s nothing good that comes of getting close to someone known for running out the door.

It’s still not yet clear whether Makary is officially to be fired—and the WSJ emphasizes that Trump could change his mind. And for now, the commissioner is scheduled to testify on the FDA’s 2027 budget at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Wednesday. But if he is on the outs and recent history is any indication, I’m guessing we won’t have much time before another loser takes his place.