Jessica Mendoza
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The Food and Drug Administration saw a huge shakeup in leadership today.
Our colleague Liz Esley White covers health policy.
President Trump called McCary, quote, a terrific guy, but added that he was having some difficulty.
McCary, a surgeon by training, was sworn in as commissioner over a year ago with promises to usher in a new era at the FDA—
He started phasing out artificial food dyes and cut down on the time it takes for drugs to get FDA approval.
But McCary also faced a lot of headwinds throughout his tenure.
The White House has also blamed McCary for a mess of bad PR from people he brought on who then quickly left the agency.
That's according to people familiar with the matter.
The highest profile was Dr. Vinay Prasad, who was hired, fired, and then rehired as the FDA's vaccine chief.
Prasad ultimately stepped down in March.
Beyond the personnel issues, McCary has also been criticized for not moving fast enough on issues important to the GOP.
Why, of all things, vaping?
Why was this the thing that caught the president's attention?
McCary didn't respond to requests for comment.
Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power.
It's Tuesday, May 12th.
Coming up on the show, the vaping firestorm that ousted the FDA commissioner.
That's President Trump speaking from the Oval Office in 2019.
In his first term, Trump was clearly anti-vaping.