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# Azar Planning to Dump Hahn: Politico Report
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/azar-planning-to-dump-hahn-politico-report/
- Published: 2020-10-22T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T16:33:41.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: FDA Policy/General, #legacy-id-D5147934

HHS secretary **Alex Azar** reportedly has been expressing his unhappiness with FDA commissioner **Stephen Hahn** and is openly plotting his removal from office. In a lengthy online [post](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/22/azar-plans-oust-hahn-fda-431139?ref=fdaweb.com), *Politico* says its anonymous sources, a half-dozen current and former administration officials, indicate that Azar has gone so far as to suggest that HHS testing czar **Brett Giroir**, CDER director **Janet Woodcock**, or FDA principal deputy commissioner **Amy Abernathy** could become acting commissioner once Hahn is gone.

The sources indicated that Azar likely would not make a move before the 11/3 election and that Hahn was a long-shot to remain in his position should President **Donald Trump** be reelected.

“The discussions come amid deep frustration with Hahn over his insistence that a Covid-19 vaccine meet strict safety standards, a contentious decision that rendered it impossible for Trump to fulfill his oft-expressed desire for a vaccine just before Election Day,” the post says.

Azar reportedly was angered when Hahn ignored the White House and ordered publication of an agency guidance on the rules for granting a vaccine emergency use authorization. *Politico* says Azar and others in Trump’s inner circle reportedly viewed Hahn’s action as the latest item in a pattern of breaking with the broader administration to bolster his reputation.

The newsletter says the last few weeks have marked a low point in the feud between HHS and FDA. It says the dissension has disrupted efforts to combat the Covid-19 virus by slowing internal decision-making and sowing confusion. The situation has decimated morale and, at various times, forced the White House to intervene, sources told *Politico*.

“It’s broken,” one administration official said of the relationship between Azar and Hahn. “There’s minimal interaction.”

On the record, Azar has indicated that he has confidence in Hahn and that the two speak almost daily. “We have a very close productive relationship and we’re working together,” he told *CBS News*. “As I have made very clear and the commissioner had made clear, FDA will make the decision whether to approve therapeutics or vaccines according to their science, data, regulatory, and legal standards. Those calls will be made ultimately by the top career officials at FDA and I 100% support that approach.”

Administration officials who spoke with *Politico* said the fallout between Azar and Hahn is a result of a series of disagreements, missteps, and slights that began within weeks of Hahn’s arrival in Washington last December.

“Hahn struggled to navigate the infighting and power plays that came with it \[the commissioner’s position\],” the post says. “He clashed with HHS officials over personnel decisions, complicating plans to build out his own senior leadership team. When Azar took over management of the coronavirus response in January, Hahn was among several agency heads initially left off the Trump administration’s task force. During those early months, Hahn spent much of the time deferring to other administration officials on how best to respond to the unfolding crisis, feeding frustration among career FDA officials and within the broader public health community over his perceived weakness as a leader.”

The article closes with the musings of a person familiar with the current situation who said that “Hahn tried to satisfy the White House, now he’s trying to salvage his reputation. He should’ve kept his head down and done neither.”