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# FDA Top Lawyer Resigns After 2 Days on the Job
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/fda-top-lawyer-resigns-after-2-days-on-the-job/
- Published: 2025-03-13T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T14:55:19.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: FDA Policy/General, #legacy-id-D5158815

Former Justice Department attorney **Hilary Perkins**, who two days ago was selected to serve as FDA chief counsel, has abruptly resigned her post. FDA released a brief statement on “X” that read: “Hilary K. Perkins has resigned from her position as chief counsel of FDA, effective immediately.”

Her ouster was orchestrated, in large part, by Sen. **Josh Hawley** (R-MO), who objected to the former Justice Department lawyer’s new post because she defended FDA and the Biden Administration’s policy on the availability of abortion pills in a [high-profile case](https://litigationtracker.law.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Whole-Womans-Health-Alliance%5F2024.12.18%5FDEFENDANTS-COMBINED-MEMORANDUM-IN-SUPPORT-OF-CROSS-MOTION-FOR-SUMMARY-JUDGMENT-AND-IN-OPPOSITION-TO-PLAINTIFFS-MOTION-FOR-SUMMARY-JUDGMENT.pdf?ref=fdaweb.com), according to the [*Daily Wire*](https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-how-the-fdas-chief-counsel-went-from-hired-to-fired-in-two-days?ref=fdaweb.com). She also signed an earlier legal brief expressing support for president Biden’s Covid-19 vaccine mandates, Hawley said.

“A Biden abortion lawyer who also defended Biden’s offensive and outrageous vaccine mandates has no business working in the Trump Administration,” Hawley told the news outlet. “I’m glad to see she was removed from that position. It’s critical that the Trump Administration is staffed with individuals who are committed to carrying out President Trump’s pro-life agenda.”

HHS has not responded to a request for more information about her resignation. She reportedly was chosen as the top FDA lawyer by commissioner-designate **Marty Makary**, despite HHS officials objecting to the choice, and who were eventually overruled by the White House, according to an [*Axios report*](https://www.axios.com/2025/03/11/fda-top-lawyer-abortion-pills?ref=fdaweb.com).

For the past six-plus years, Perkins worked in Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch, most recently as assistant director. Prior to joining the government, she was an associate at Jones Day for six years. Perkins has a law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law.