James (Jim) Jones, the Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), submitted a resignation letter on February 17, 2025, stating that the widespread firings being implemented by the Trump Administration would make it “fruitless” for him to continue in his role. Mr. Jones is known for his efforts to strengthen federal food chemical oversight as the first Deputy Commissioner of the newly reorganized Human Foods Program at FDA, notably leading the agency in its ban of red dye 3 in January 2025.

News of Mr. Jones' resignation was first broken in a post on X by Helena Bottmiller Evich of Food Fix, which was among the first to report on the resignation.

Reported by Bloomberg, in a letter to the Acting FDA Commissioner Sara Brenner, Mr. Jones cited 89 “indiscriminate” layoffs among staffers in the Human Foods Program, who include employees with “highly technical expertise in nutrition, infant formula, food safety response,” as the reason for his resignation. Of these layoffs, ten included staffers whose job it was to review potentially unsafe ingredients in food.

Improved food ingredient safety reviews have been a demand of Congress and the public in recent years, and addressing “unsafe” chemicals in food is an objective of the Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s (RFK) “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) agenda. RFK was confirmed as the new Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees FDA, on February 13, and signed the President’s MAHA Commission executive order on the same day, a mandate of which is for the FDA Commissioner and other heads of federal public health agencies to assess children’s exposure to certain food ingredients and chemicals. Mr. Jones already expressed in the past, before the layoffs, that, although he was planning to develop and execute an enhanced, systematic process for the post-market safety review of food chemicals, budget constraints alone would have made the task difficult.

“I was looking forward to working to pursue the department’s agenda of improving the health of Americans by reducing diet-related chronic disease and risks from chemicals in food,” Mr. Jones said in his resignation letter, but given the Trump Administration’s “disdain for the very people" needed to make these changes, as expressed through the layoffs, it would be “fruitless for me to continue in this role.”

Brian Ronholm, Director of Food Policy for Consumer Reports, a watchdog group at the forefront of advocacy for federal food safety reform, told Bloomberg the firings are “disjointed and disruptive,” especially considering Mr. Jones’ promises to focus on food chemical safety, which is a focus of RFK’s MAHA agenda.

Prior to FDA, Mr. Jones spent most of his career as a federal regulator of pesticides, toxic substances, chemical safety, and pollution prevention at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). According comments to Bloomberg made by Scott Faber, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at Environmental Working Group, another significant food safety advocacy group, “There is no one on Earth who can replace the chemical safety expertise that [Mr. Jones] brought to [FDA].”

In a comment to Food Safety Magazine, Steven Mandernach, J.D., Executive Director for the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO), stated, "AFDO acknowledges former Deputy Commissioner Jim Jones’ work on the FDA reorganization and strong commitment to strengthening chemical safety. His decades of public service are greatly appreciated. While it’s a loss for the agency, a new leader in the human foods program may have the opportunity and freedom to further reshape it in a manner that streamlines performance in the most efficient means possible.”

Mr. Jones began his employment as FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods in September 2023. The new Human Foods Program structure was officially implemented in October 2024.

The 89 layoffs within FDA’s Human Foods Program is part of a wider effort by the Trump Administration to slash the workforce at federal agencies, comprising thousands of employees at FDA, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), among others.

Update, February 19, 2025: Major public health, food industry, and consumer protection groups have stated concerns about the mass firing of FDA Human Foods Program staff and the resignation of Deputy Commissioner Jones, expressing that layoffs could jeopardize food safety and RFK Jr.’s MAHA agenda.

Update, February 21, 2025: Attorney Kyle Diamantas, J.D. is expected to replace Mr. Jones as FDA Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods, according to Bloomberg.

Update, February 25, 2025: According to multiple sources, FDA and USDA are looking to re-hire some employees who were dismissed by the presidential administration, including staffers responsible for reviewing food ingredient safety and avian influenza response.

Update, February 28, 2025: Originally reported by Helena Bottmiller Evich of Food Fix, one of the FDA staffers whom the Trump Administration fired—and then scrambled to re-hire—was a top official in charge of infant formula safety; specifically, the Acting Director for the Office of Critical Foods, who was on the job for less than a year. This is notable because FDA's recent reorganization of its Human Foods Program was precipitated by the infant formula safety and supply crisis of 2022, and strengthened infant formula oversight is now a key priority of the Human Foods Program. 

Additionally, USDA is apparently struggling to convince fired employees responsible for avian flu response to come back to the administration, reported Politico. "Roughly a quarter of employees in a critical office testing for the disease were cut, as well as scientists and inspectors. The dismissals have already helped trigger a partial shutdown at one of the department’s research facilities, according to two USDA employees, interrupting some workers’ efforts to fight bird flu and help livestock recover from illness. Now, agency officials are running into logistical challenges in reinstating its bird flu staff — and convincing them to return to jobs," stated Politico. Significantly, without addressing plans to re-staff the agency, USDA announced on February 26 that it intends to address the ongoing HPAI H5N1 outbreak with up to $1 billion in investments, including up to $500 million to support farm biosecurity and up to $100 million for the development of vaccines, therapeutics, and other protection strategies for layer chickens.

Update, March 5, 2025: Following mass layoffs that swept regulatory agencies, including those responsible for food safety and foodborne illness response, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has walked back its orders to fire probationary employees at federal agencies.