Rich Danker, the chief spokesman for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., tendered his resignation Wednesday, citing opposition to an administration decision that would permit major tobacco companies to sell flavored electronic cigarettes. His exit follows the Tuesday resignation of Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, who left office for similar reasons.
In a letter to President Trump that was obtained by The New York Times, Danker argued that authorizing flavored e-cigarettes would draw more children into vaping and heighten their exposure to health risks, explicitly citing increased risks of addiction and cancer. Danker did not assign blame to the president in the letter; instead he wrote that President Trump had "twice restored our prosperity and national security against all odds."
Danker’s letter singled out unnamed "senior H.H.S. officials," other than Secretary Kennedy, as being responsible for the new policy that was posted on the Food and Drug Administration website on Friday. That policy states the agency will take steps to remove illicit e-cigarettes from the market while allowing sales of e-cigarette products that have already met certain steps toward agency approval.
According to the account provided in the letter, Dr. Makary had tried to prevent the marketing of flavored e-cigarettes but was overruled as the administration moved forward with the revised policy. The text of the policy, as described, includes both an enforcement element aimed at illicit products and a pathway for legally advancing products that have progressed toward approval.
The two high-profile departures underscore internal disagreement within health agencies over the direction of federal policy on flavored vaping products. Danker’s objections focused on anticipated public health consequences for young people, while the description of events indicates a policy process in which senior officials outside the secretary’s immediate office played a determining role.
Official statements accompanying the resignations or additional details about next steps within the affected agencies were not included in the materials cited in the letter. The sequence of events as described centers on the Friday posting of the new FDA policy, the subsequent resignations of the FDA commissioner and the H.H.S. spokesman, and the concerns raised about youth vaping and long-term health outcomes.