Well, well, well—another day, another bureaucrat throwing in the towel because the Trump administration is actually doing what it said it would do. This time, it’s Jim Jones, the head of the FDA’s food division, who resigned in protest after nearly 90 staffers were cut from the agency over the weekend.
Jones didn’t mince words in his resignation letter, blasting the layoffs as “indiscriminate” and lamenting that the agency wouldn’t be able to meet Trump’s vision for reform. “It would be fruitless for me to continue in this role,” he wrote, “because of the Trump administration’s disdain for the very people needed to make the changes it wants.”
Let’s translate that: He’s mad because Trump isn’t playing by Washington’s rules. The same bloated agencies that have been running unchecked for decades are finally being forced to cut the fat, and not everyone is happy about it.
The White House, for its part, didn’t seem particularly fazed. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded with a reality check: “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. It’s not for everyone, and that’s okay.”
In other words—if you don’t want to be part of real change, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Now, let’s talk about what Jones is really upset about. He claims these firings will make it harder to implement key food safety policies, but let’s be honest—the FDA, like so many other government agencies, has been drowning in inefficiency for years. The American people aren’t exactly shedding tears over a few fewer bureaucrats standing in the way of reform.
Jones is also known for pushing the ban on red dye No. 3, a move that happened under Biden just before Trump took office. And now, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the new Health and Human Services secretary—after running a “Make America Healthy Again” campaign with Trump—it’s clear this administration is prioritizing a major overhaul of the food and health industries.
Meanwhile, Trump’s nominee to lead the FDA, Johns Hopkins surgeon Marty Makary, is waiting for confirmation. Makary has been a vocal critic of government overreach in healthcare, and if confirmed, he’s expected to push for even more shakeups within the agency.
