Dr. Marty McCulley will step down as FDA commissioner on Tuesday, ending a short but tumultuous tenure marked by mounting criticism from all quarters.
McCurry’s resignation follows reports over the weekend that President Trump signed a plan to fire his appointed FDA chief in April 2025, Politico reported, citing unnamed administration officials.
According to a report in Politico, Kyle Diamantas, the FDA’s deputy director for food, will lead the agency on his behalf.
President Donald Trump appeared to accept McCurry’s resignation in a meeting with reporters on Tuesday, but stopped short of saying whether he had directly fired the secretary.
“I hate to say it, but Marty is a great guy. He’s a friend of mine, a great guy, and I’m leaving,” Trump said, as quoted by The Hill.
The president added that “an aide, an aide, will take over on a temporary basis” while the search for a permanent replacement for McCurry begins.
According to The Hill, Trump also acknowledged that McCurry was “going through some challenges.”
In recent months, McCurry has reportedly drawn the ire of the White House for resisting the president’s push to phase out fruit-flavored e-cigarettes.
In a series of articles, the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board campaigned for his removal over recent FDA decisions regarding drug approvals.
Pro-life groups also slammed McCully, arguing that he is not tough enough to restrict the abortion drug mifepristone.
Lawmakers questioned his National Priority Review Voucher (CNPV) pilot as a potential channel to introduce political interference and favoritism into drug evaluations.
Even the biopharmaceutical industry, which usually shy away from criticizing the very government agencies that could easily jeopardize its business, is voicing its displeasure. Under Mr. McCurry’s watch, the field was tired of rapid leadership changes and a massive brain drain at the FDA, as well as seemingly inconsistent regulatory standards and a habit of prioritizing career scientists.
But in the end, it was Health Department Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who made the decision to oust McCurry, Politico reported, citing anonymous administration officials. President Kennedy had long been dissatisfied with Mr. McCulley and was reportedly considering checking the authority of the FDA chief and demoting him to a nominal role.
Politico recently reported, citing a senior HHS official, that McCurry has clashed with HHS Chief Counsel and Medicare Director Chris Klomp over personnel decisions within the agency.
McCurry’s resignation comes as he was scheduled to testify Wednesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee on the FDA’s fiscal year 2027 budget request.
In his budget report, Mr. McCurry made several legislative proposals, including creating an expedited pathway for drug companies to begin first-in-human clinical trials. This policy, like other policies such as the CNPV and the Framework of Plausible Mechanisms, has garnered support from the Trump administration and is therefore likely to survive a change in leadership.
