Trump plans to fire Food and Drug Administration chief

The White House has approved a plan to remove U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Macari, according to sources familiar with the situation, in what could be the next leadership change within the federal health department.

The Wall Street Journal was the first to report earlier today that President Donald Trump plans to fire Macari.

Two White House advisers said the decision was not final. A third source close to the White House said they had been told the FDA commissioner was "done" and Trump had given his approval, Reuters reported.

"President Trump has assembled the most experienced and talented administration in history, an administration that continues to focus on achieving new historic victories for the American people," White House spokesman Kush Desai said.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA, was not available for comment.

Reports of Macari's potential departure have intensified over the past week over concerns related to controversial drug approval decisions, vaccines and the FDA's handling of the abortion pill mifepristone.

Under Macari and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., thousands of employees left the agency through layoffs or voluntary departures, including large sections overseeing the review of new drugs.

Leading officials have left the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other institutions.

Macari, a surgical oncologist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, was confirmed as FDA commissioner last March. He is a best-selling author on health care costs and what he described as the failures of modern medicine, and was a key advocate for the Kennedy-backed "Make America Healthy Again" movement, Reuters reports.