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FDA Commissioner Califf’s Advice to His Successor and RFK Jr.

Jan. 22, 2025
The Los Angeles Times had an insightful article on the barriers to change and political threats the agency faces -- from the outgoing commissioner just before he left office.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called the FDA a "corrupt system" that is waging "war on public health." He has pledged to eliminate "entire departments" at the agency and warned the 18,000 people who work there to "pack your bags."

Maybe RFK Jr. is confirmed (far from certainty) as secretary of Health and Human Services, the FDA’s parent. Maybe Marty Makary becomes the next FDA commissioner. Maybe the agency needs an overhaul. But easier said than done, Robert Califf said in his last days as FDA commissioner. The Los Angeles Times was among a group of media Califf spoke to last week in the FDA's White Oak campus in Silver Spring, Md.

“This is a job that has a lot of bosses and a lot of constraints,” Califf said. “When you’re in the commissioner's office at FDA, you report to the executive branch. But Congress also thinks it’s your boss. It’s not unheard of for FDA to want to do something and get a message from an important appropriator that, ‘If you do this, we’re going to cut your budget somewhere else.’ ”

The LA Times article is a fascinating read on Califf’s advice to those who will take over public health roles in the incoming Trump administration. Read it here.

About the Author

Dave Fusaro | Editor in Chief

Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.

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