Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,
President Donald Trump said on May 8 that he has no plans to replace Marty Makary as commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
When asked by reporters outside the White House about Makary, Trump responded: “Nothing much, he’s doing fine,” without elaborating further.
Trump said he had seen reports suggesting the administration was planning to remove Makary from his role leading the FDA, but added that he knows “nothing about it.”
The president also rejected the notion that he would hire someone new to replace Makary.
Amid the media speculation, White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement to multiple news outlets that Trump “has assembled the most experienced and talented administration in history.”
Several media outlets, citing unnamed sources, on May 8 stated that the president intends to remove Makary after controversies surrounding abortion drug mifepristone.
A federal appeals court on May 1 blocked the mailing of mifepristone until the FDA can ensure the abortion drug is “safe and effective” for use in the United States. The Supreme Court later put the ruling on hold after pill maker Danco Laboratories requested an emergency stay.
Mifepristone has long been available to women after consulting with doctors. In 2023, federal authorities enabled access via mail and at pharmacies.
In its May 1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said mifepristone could not be shipped because the FDA “conceded it had failed to adequately study whether remotely prescribing mifepristone is safe.”
Susan B. Anthony (SBA) Pro-Life America had previously called for Makary’s removal, accusing him of being indifferent toward calls for stricter regulations on abortion drugs.
“FDA Commissioner Makary should be fired immediately. Indifference is completely unacceptable to millions of pro-life voters expecting the administration to act to save lives,” SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a May 4 statement.
“More than 90,000 abortions occur each year just in states that protect babies in the law throughout all nine months of pregnancy—a direct result of Biden’s COVID-era mail-order abortion drug rule, which the Trump administration inexplicably allows to continue.”
The Epoch Times has reached out to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA, for comment.
Meanwhile, Dr. Vinay Prasad, the top vaccine official at the FDA, left the agency for a second time on April 30. Prasad served as head of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) before resigning from the role in July 2025. He subsequently rejoined the agency two weeks later at the FDA’s request.
Katherine Szarama, who had been CBER’s deputy director, has been elevated to acting director of the center following Prasad’s departure, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Tyler Durden Sat, 05/09/2026 - 15:10Soaring expenses for raw materials and labor have delivered a blow to yet another longtime business, claiming Lammes Candies, a family-owned confectioner that has operated in the South for more than a century, FOX 7 Austin reports.
The Austin, Texas,-based company recently announced that it will begin an "orderly wind-down of operations" after 141 years of family ownership, according to a statement posted to its Facebook page.
"This was not an easy decision," the candy company wrote. "Lammes Candies has been more than a business – it has been a family legacy spanning generations."
"We’ve been so honored to be part of your celebrations and your sweetest moments," the company wrote in a separate post. "Now we’re asking one last thing: savor every bite."
Lana Schmidt, the company’s vice president, cited intensifying economic pressures for the closure in an interview with FOX 7 Austin.
"The economy, you know, with the raw materials going up, labor is going – it’s just everything is escalating," a disheartened Schmidt said. "There’s not a huge margin in confections."
Founded in 1885 after the Lamme family reacquired the business, the company built its reputation on pecan pralines and other handcrafted sweets.
"Throughout the years, my father bought it in its entirety, I think, in 1972. And so, he was in the fourth generation," Schmidt said. "My brother and sister and I are the fifth generation. And back in that time, we had just like one, two retail stores. And then they grew it throughout Austin."
"I think we've built a legacy for the community. I mean we had the first neon sign. I mean there are a lot of firsts with lamps in Austin. I know people are gonna miss this sweet treat, this tradition of theirs. And so we will miss the community," she added.
Speaking to FOX 7 Austin, some longtime customers are heartbroken by the news.
"I first came here when I first moved to Austin. This was one of the first places I came to. I moved here about five years ago. And I came in because I saw that it was one of the oldest places in Austin. And I was like, I want to get in on that," one customer told the local news outlet.
"I've never been here before. My mom told me when we moved over here about how, when she was a kid, she used to go here a lot," another customer said.