The Resignations Are Piling Up

Richard Danker, RFK Jr.'s senior spokesperson at the Department of Health and Human Services, resigned Wednesday, May 15, 2026. His resignation letter — first obtained by The New York Times and confirmed by NBC News — states directly that flavored e-cigarettes "would appeal to children and expose them to nicotine addiction, lung damage, and higher risk of cancer."

Danker quit over the same policies that cost Marty Makary his job. Two senior health officials, out in the same week, over the same issue.

Meanwhile, according to NBC News, a J.D. named Kyle Diamantas — the current Deputy Commissioner for Food — has been named acting head of the FDA.

What Actually Changed at the FDA

Two policy reversals happened this week:

First: The FDA granted the first-ever authorization of fruit-flavored vapes and opened a formal pathway for tobacco companies to sell flavored electronic cigarettes more broadly, according to NBC News.

Second: The FDA abandoned a tanning bed regulation proposal that had been sitting in the pipeline since late 2015 — over a decade. That proposal would have banned anyone under 18 from using tanning beds and required adult users to periodically sign forms acknowledging skin cancer risks. According to NPR, HHS Secretary Kennedy signed off on the decision.

The Tobacco Industry's Role

According to NBC News — confirmed by a source familiar with the matter — tobacco industry executives and lobbyists met with President Trump at a lunch in Jupiter, Florida, earlier this month. They expressed frustrations with barriers to selling flavored vapes. Trump then called senior administration health officials, including Kennedy, to voice displeasure.

Days later, the FDA approvals followed.

The White House denies the industry drove the decision. Spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement: "President Trump consistently pledged to expand access to vapes in light of an abundance of recent evidence finding that these products are beneficial for Americans trying to quit smoking."

The International Pediatric Association — a consortium of pediatric societies — stated last year that e-cigarettes have NOT proved significantly effective at getting people to stop smoking.

MAHA Is Breaking Apart in Public

The "Make America Healthy Again" movement sold itself as the antidote to corporate influence over public health. This week, its own people are raising concerns.

Alex Clark, a health and wellness podcaster for Turning Point USA, told NBC News the administration's flavored vape support "adds more fuel to the fire when it comes to stoking fears that MAHA moms have that special interest groups are running the White House."

The Tanning Bed Science

Dr. Susan Taylor, president of the American Academy of Dermatology, told NPR the abandoned tanning bed regulations would have been significant. People who use tanning beds before age 20 have a nearly 50% higher risk of melanoma — the deadliest form of skin cancer — according to one major analysis cited by NPR.

The World Health Organization classifies UV-emitting tanning devices in the same carcinogen category as tobacco and asbestos.

Hunter Shain, associate professor of dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco, told NPR: "The argument against the usage of tanning beds is at least as strong as tobacco use."

RFK Jr.'s own memo on the decision points to the FDA's role — but Kennedy had previously posted on X pledging to end the federal government's "aggressive suppression" of sunshine.

What the Media Is Getting Wrong

Left-leaning outlets — NPR, NBC News — are covering this accurately on the facts but framing it almost entirely as a partisan culture-war story. The dynamic is straightforward: a president met with industry lobbyists, got angry, called his health officials, and regulators reversed course within days.

Right-leaning media is largely ignoring the Danker resignation and the tobacco lobby meeting. Those details don't fit the "deregulation is always good" narrative.

Both sides are overlooking a core issue: kids are the ones who will pay for this with their lungs and their skin.

What Comes Next

Two senior health officials gone. A lawyer running the FDA. Fruit-flavored vapes approved. Teen tanning protections killed. A White House lunch with tobacco lobbyists at the center of it all.

Some of the MAHA movement's own followers are already questioning what they're seeing.