Dr. Marty Makary is one step closer to becoming the head of the Food and Drug Administration after Republicans and even some Democrats on the Senate committee voted 14-9 in his favor Thursday, Fox News reported. Makary's nomination will move to the Senate for a confirmation vote.
President Donald Trump picked Makary to collaborate with Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and National Institute of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya on his Make America Healthy Again initiative. Makary is seen as a solid choice.
Trump said Makary will join Kennedy to "properly evaluate harmful chemicals poisoning our Nation’s food supply and drugs and biologics being given to our Nation’s youth, so that we can finally address the Childhood Chronic Disease Epidemic." The 54-year-old is a pancreatic surgeon and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine professor.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Makary was one of the voices championing natural immunity while the vaccine push was well underway. In 2021, Makary wrote an op-ed calling for "fresh leadership at the FDA to change the culture at the agency and promote scientific advancement, not hinder it."
Thursday's vote came after the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing last week. Makary made the case for himself and the MAHA agenda.
"We now have a generational opportunity in American healthcare. President Trump and Secretary Kennedy's focus on healthy foods has galvanized a grassroots movement in America. Childhood obesity is not a willpower problem, and the rise of early-onset Alzheimer's is not a genetic cause," Makary said at last week's hearing.
"We should be, and we will, be addressing food as it impacts our health. Thanks to the courage of President Trump and Secretary Kennedy, we now have a generational opportunity to usher in radical transparency to facilitate more cures, meaningful treatments, and diagnostics at the FDA to help people take care of their own health," Makary added.
His responses hit all the right notes for supporters, as evidenced by a video shared to X, formerly Twitter, after the hearing. Some of those statements included the fact that the U.S. is "drugging our nation's children at scale" while Americans "eat foods with a lot of molecules that do not appear in nature."
This is the most important video on 𝕏 today.
“We are drugging our nation's children at scale.”
“Half of our nation's children are sick.”
“We eat foods with a lot of molecules that do not appear in nature.”
FDA nominee Dr. Marty Makary pledged to get America off of the path… pic.twitter.com/cxzAZHZfm5
— Holden Culotta (@Holden_Culotta) March 6, 2025
Although Makary's answers delighted conservatives and two Democratic defectors that voted for him, leftists pushed back on Makary about hot-button issues, including his stance on abortion. They pressed the pro-life Makary about whether he would outlaw the chemical abortion treatment of Mifepristone.
Despite his views, Makary promised a scientific examination of it. "I have no preconceived plans on Mifepristone policy except to take a solid, hard look at the data and to meet with the professional career scientists who have reviewed the data at the FDA, and to build an expert coalition to review the ongoing data," he told the committee.
Makary also promised to streamline the agency the same way the Department of Government Efficiency is doing throughout the government. "If confirmed, I will do my own independent assessment on personnel," Makary promised.
"I welcome input on efficiencies at the agency. At the same time, I want to make sure that the scientists and food inspectors and staff, central to the core mission of the agency, have all the resources they need to do their job well," Makary said during the hearing.
Trump has recently made some political missteps to be sure. However, when it comes to the MAHA agenda, he's doing exactly what he promised to his voters before the election, and that covers a multitude of missteps.
