WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)—United States (US) President Donald Trump on Tuesday said US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) chief Marty Makary was leaving his post, a resignation that follows weeks of political tumult at the powerful agency.

During his tenure atop the sprawling body responsible for overseeing vaccines, medicine and food, Makary managed to upset figures across industry, politics and public health over a range of issues, and most recently faced pressure from the Republican president to sign off on fruit-flavoured vapes.

“Marty is a terrific guy, but he’s going to go on, and he’s going to lead a good life,” Trump told reporters when asked if he had fired the FDA commissioner, a move rumoured to be imminent for weeks.

The president later posted on his Truth Social platform an apparent text message from Makary, in which the departing official offered his resignation.

Trump thanked him for “having done a great job,” saying he was “a hard worker, who was respected by all.”

Kyle Diamantas, who previously worked as the agency’s top food official, will now lead the FDA in an acting capacity, Trump said.

– ‘Chaos’ –

A surgeon and former Fox News contributor, Makary made waves during the COVID-19 pandemic as an outspoken critic of the medical establishment and the health measures of the time.

He took over the FDA, promising reform. He leaves just over a year later, facing criticism from all angles, including from pharmaceutical executives, tobacco lobbyists and anti-abortion activists.

Conservatives against the abortion pill Mifepristone accuse Makary of taking too long to complete and issue a review of the drug that’s been FDA-approved for 25 years, but which they continue to target.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, forged ahead with a policy allowing for the sale of flavoured e-cigarettes despite resistance from Makary, who had voiced concern over their appeal to youth.

Many pharmaceutical executives said Makary’s initiatives to shake up the drug review process had only created more problems.

And public health leaders accused him of catering to anti-vaccine activists after the FDA put out an unsupported memo claiming deaths linked to the Covid-19 vaccine.

It’s the latest in a string of shake-ups at the health department overseen by noted vaccine sceptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr, with figures seen as more conventional put forth as nominees to be surgeon general as well as to helm the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Makary’s departure was more “chaos” at the “beleaguered and battered Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),” said Peter Lurie, president of the Centre for Science in the Public Interest food and health watchdog organisation.

“When you don’t have a CDC Director, an FDA Commissioner, or a Surgeon General, the obvious question is: Why do you have this HHS Secretary?” said Lurie. “Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is the cause of much of the chaos that has resulted in these job vacancies. HHS is rotting from the head.”