The legal community was taken by surprise as Hilary Perkins, recently appointed chief counsel for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has stepped down merely two days after her appointment was made public. This swift resignation was confirmed by the FDA via a post on X, a social media platform.
Hilary Perkins, before this brief tenure at the FDA, had an illustrious career in public service, including a notable stint at the Department of Justice’s consumer protection division. Her role in the DOJ began in 2019, during the Trump administration, as corroborated by her LinkedIn profile.
Perkins faced criticism soon after her appointment. Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri was particularly vocal, suggesting via X that Perkins’s appointment might have been an attempt to install a “Biden abortion lawyer” in a key position. This political opposition appears to have been a significant factor in her decision to resign, although no official statement detailing her reasons has been released.
The abrupt resignation adds a layer of complexity to the FDA’s already intricate regulatory landscape, highlighting the nuances and challenges faced by public sector legal professionals in highly scrutinized roles. Details on the implications of this resignation and the search for a new candidate remain to be seen.
For further information on the resignation and its context, visit the full article on Bloomberg here.