FDA chief counsel who defended abortion pill access under Biden resigns two days into job

The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) top lawyer, who was appointed to the position just this week, has resigned, according to a Thursday morning post on X.

“Hilary K. Perkins has resigned from her position as Chief Counsel of FDA, effectively immediately,” the FDA’s official X account posted.  

Perkins – a former assistant director under Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) in the consumer protection agency – was selected on Tuesday by acting general Sean Keveney in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a “reorganization” effort by the department, according to an HHS news release.

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Perkins’s resignation comes two days after her selection for FDA chief counsel was announced as part of a larger reorganization effort touted by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Jason Mendez/Getty Images)

She previously defended abortion pill access in a high-profile case under Biden’s DOJ, and HHS officials were reportedly unhappy with the decision to appoint Perkins but were overruled by White House officials, according to a report from Axios this week.

“We’ve been able to recruit higher quality personnel to HHS than in any time in its history,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., said in a statement Tuesday at the announcement of Perkins’ assignment on Tuesday. “These are individuals who will return the agency to gold-standard science, evidence-based medicine, and recalibrate its trajectory toward public health rather than industry profiteering.”

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Signage outside of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in White Oak, Maryland, on August 29, 2020.  (Reuters/Andrew Kelly/File Photo)

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Fox News Digital has reached out to HHS and FDA for comment.

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