Inside the staff exodus and tanking morale that threaten Makary's FDA
"WASHINGTON — The steady erosion of experienced staff at the Food and Drug Administration is slowly compromising the agency’s work, current and former employees say, and the situation could become more dire as low morale pushes more workers to the exits.
FDA employees are spooked by increasing political involvement in regulatory decisions, frustrated by the impact of cuts to administrative staff who supported drug reviews and inspections, and fed up with proclamations from the commissioner’s office that they contend rarely take career staff’s expertise into account. Three months after losing 3,500 employees — 19% of the agency’s workforce — the FDA continues to bleed talent amid a government-wide hiring freeze that has lasted almost six months.
STAT spoke with 15 employees across the agency’s drug, device, biologics, and food centers on how the FDA has functioned since the April 1 layoffs, which coincided with the start of FDA Commissioner Marty Makary’s tenure. All requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation from leadership. They told STAT that morale is incredibly low as departures mount and distrust of leaders grows among the staff that remain."
https://www.statnews.com/2025/07/07/fda-job-cuts-morale-low-staff-anxious-impact-of-new-leadership-makary-prasad-rfk-jr/
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