A top spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services is the latest Trump official to quit the administration in response to a new policy push that is poised to expose children to higher risks of lung disease and cancer.
On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that Rich Danker, the chief spokesman for HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., had submitted a letter to President Donald Trump announcing his resignation. He specifically cited the administration's recent pivot to supporting new rules that would "allow major tobacco companies to begin selling flavored vapes that appeal to children." Danker is the second high-profile departure this decision has caused, coming just one day after the resignation of Food and Drug Administration head Marty Makary.
In the letter, which the Times obtained a copy of, Danker took pains to stress that he was not directly blaming the president for this new vape policy, and praised him for supposedly having "twice restored our prosperity and national security against all odds," and citing various unnamed "senior HHS officials" as being behind it. Nevertheless, he "warned" Trump about the dangers to children that this new policy would create.
"Senior H.H.S. officials in the immediate office of the secretary have in recent months sought U.S. Food and Drug Administration marketing approval of e-cigarette flavors that would appeal to children and expose them to nicotine addiction, lung damage and higher risk of cancer," Danker wrote.
The new policy from HHS, posted last week, claimed that it will aim to "remove illicit e-cigarettes from the market," while allowing those that "already crossed hurdles toward agency approval" to be sold. Makary reportedly resigned after his attempts to overrule the flavored vapes policy were overruled. Despite Danker opting not to pin any blame on Trump, the Times reported that he "was personally involved advancing it."
"Mr. Danker’s resignation comes at a particularly fraught time for the Department of Health and Human Services," the Times explained. "With Dr. Makary’s resignation on Tuesday, the department now has three major vacancies. The positions of surgeon general and director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are also unfilled. As the assistant secretary for public affairs for the Department of Health and Human Services, Mr. Danker was responsible for coordinating the department’s outward communications. He was in Los Angeles on Wednesday, where Mr. Kennedy is speaking at a conference on the possible link between diet and cancer."
The resignation is also the latest sign of the deteriorating relationship between Trump and Kennedy's "Make America Healthy Again" movement, which has been credited with helping him get reelected in 2024. Since returning to the White House, Trump has disappointed MAHA adherents with his lack of progress on implementing anti-vaccine policies that they favor, as well as his support for loosening regulations on pesticides. Sources within the administration are reportedly unconcerned about losing MAHA support, viewing their influence as insignificant.
