About a dozen House Republicans are calling for leaders at the Food and Drug Administration to be fired over the agency’s approval of a new abortion pill — and they want it to happen as part of the administration’s planned layoffs during the government shutdown.
The lawmakers — led by Rep. Mark Harris of North Carolina, a staunch anti-abortion ally — wrote to Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asking that the director of the Office of Generic Drugs, the director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research and “other bureaucrats responsible for this reckless decision” be a part of the administration’s planned reduction-in-force.
“This approval is particularly alarming given that just weeks prior … you publicly announced that the FDA would undertake a thorough review of the safety of abortion pills,” the House Republicans wrote in the letter. “The approval of a generic version of this dangerous drug not only contradicts the announced review, but also runs directly counter to this Administration’s stated pro-life agenda.”
The letter was co-signed by Reps. Josh Brecheen, Keith Self, Eli Crane, Paul Gosar, Chip Roy, Mary Miller, Andy Biggs, Barry Moore, Scott Perry, and Ralph Norman.
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On Tuesday, the FDA approved a new generic mifepristone manufactured by a company called Evita Solutions LLC. Kennedy previously pledged to Republican attorneys general that the FDA would conduct a review of mifepristone.
A Health and Human Services Department spokesperson told NOTUS that the FDA had no choice but to approve the drug, as it is required by law to approve applications for generic drugs if they are proven to be identical to a brand-name drug. The spokesperson reiterated HHS’ commitment to conducting a review.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing Friday that the department’s decision is “not an endorsement of this drug by any means” and that “they are just simply following the law.”
Evita Solutions LLC said in a statement to NOTUS that “[a]vailability of our product will expand patients’ options for medication abortion with an affordable product backed by decades of safe use.”
“The new product is expected to be available in January 2026,” the statement continued.
Trump administration officials threatened to lay off federal employees if Democrats did not vote with Republicans to pass their short-term government funding bill. But FDA Commissioner Marty Makary told employees earlier this week that he secured an “exception” from shutdown-related layoffs if Congress failed to fund the government by the Oct. 1 deadline. FDA employees are generally exempt from layoffs during funding lapses because of the way the agency is funded.
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