Jim Jones, deputy commissioner for human foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), resigned yesterday.
In a letter to the acting FDA commissioner, which was obtained by the Wall Street Journal, Jones said, “It has been increasingly clear that with the Trump administration’s disdain for the very people necessary to implement your agenda… it would have been fruitless for me to continue in this role.”
Jones said 89 people in FDA’s human food program were fired last weekend.
In October, FDA launched its human foods program, which Jones called “a new model for field operations and other modernization efforts.”
The establishment of the Human Foods Program allows us to most effectively deliver on our mission to protect and promote public health through science-based approaches to prevent foodborne illness, reduce diet-related chronic disease, and ensure the safety of chemicals in our food,” Jones said at the time.
President Trump has nominated Johns Hopkins surgeon Marty Makary to lead the FDA, but he has not yet been confirmed.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as the Health and Human Services secretary last week after running a “Make America Healthy Again” campaign with Trump. The HHS oversees the FDA.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to Jones’ resignation in an email to Bloomberg News, saying some “bureaucrats” are resistant to the “mandate delivered by the American people.
“President Trump is only interested in the best and most qualified people who are also willing to implement his America First Agenda on behalf of the American people,” she wrote. “It’s not for everyone, and that’s OK.”
