White House Weighs Buddy Carter for FDA Post After Makary's April Exit
Updated
Updated · NOTUS · Aug 18
White House Weighs Buddy Carter for FDA Post After Makary's April Exit
3 articles · Updated · NOTUS · Aug 18
Summary
Buddy Carter, a Republican congressman from Georgia, has emerged as a new contender for FDA commissioner, according to a source familiar with the White House’s thinking.
The consideration marks a late pivot in a search that has dragged on for more than a month after Marty Makary resigned in April while the administration weighed firing him.
Carter was not on previously reported short lists; Domestic Policy Council adviser Heidi Overton and oncologist Jeff Vacirca are also under consideration, while the White House has not made a formal nomination.
A licensed pharmacist who owned a pharmacy for more than 30 years, Carter is a Trump ally and defender of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., backing shifts in federal vaccine guidance while saying routine childhood vaccines are safe and effective.
The possible move comes as Carter prepares to leave Congress after losing his 2026 Senate primary in Georgia, where Trump declined to endorse him before later backing rival Mike Collins.