Trump picks surgeon Marty Makary to head FDA, Rep. Dave Weldon to lead CDC

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday named Dr. Marty Makary, a pancreatic surgeon at Johns Hopkins University, as his pick to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a federal agency overseeing over $7B budget.

He has also nominated former Congressman Dr. Dave Weldon as his selection for the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A medical doctor with a career spanning four decades, Dr. Weldon is an Army veteran who has also served in the Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee.

If confirmed by the Senate, Dr. Makary and Dr. Weldon will replace current FDA commissioner Robert Califf and CDC director Mandy Cohen, who received their appointments under the Biden administration in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

The duo will report to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is also awaiting Senate confirmation after getting nominated by Trump last week as his pick for the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The FDA is considered the world’s most influential healthcare regulator, given its control over the market availability of human and veterinary treatments, medical devices, and other products such as food, tobacco, and cosmetics.

“FDA has lost the trust of Americans and has lost sight of its primary goal as a regulator. The Agency needs Dr. Marty Makary, a Highly Respected Johns Hopkins Surgical Oncologist and Health Policy Expert, to course-correct and refocus the Agency,” Trump said on Truth Social.

The CDC is responsible for responding to disease outbreaks and recommending the use of vaccines approved by the FDA, among its tasks.

“Americans have lost trust in the CDC and in our Federal Health Authorities, who have engaged in censorship, data manipulation, and misinformation. Given the current Chronic Health Crisis in our Country, the CDC must step up and correct past errors to focus on the Prevention of Disease,” Trump added.

“Dave will proudly restore the CDC to its true purpose, and work to end the Chronic Disease Epidemic, and Make America Healthy Again.”

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