{"id":2417588,"date":"2025-03-30T07:28:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-30T11:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fda-lawyer-condemned-by-josh-hawley-wants-job-back\/"},"modified":"2025-03-30T07:30:03","modified_gmt":"2025-03-30T11:30:03","slug":"fda-lawyer-condemned-by-josh-hawley-wants-job-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fda-lawyer-condemned-by-josh-hawley-wants-job-back\/","title":{"rendered":"FDA lawyer condemned by Josh Hawley wants job back"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffda-lawyer-condemned-by-josh-hawley-wants-job-back%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2417588&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Hilary Perkins, who briefly served in the Trump administration as chief counsel for the FDA, was compelled to resign after Senator Josh Hawley raised concerns over her prior work at the Department of Justice (DOJ), especially her involvement in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/abort-republicans-dem-city-council-members-coffee-shop-sells-disturbing-stickers\/\" title=\"\u2018Abort Republicans\u2019: Dem City Council Member\u2019s Coffee Shop Sells Disturbing Stickers\">abortion-related cases<\/a>. Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, accused Perkins on social media of being a &#8220;Biden abortion lawyer&#8221; and threatened to withhold his vote for Dr. Marty Makary&#8217;s confirmation as FDA Commissioner unless Perkins stepped down. Despite her claim of being a pro-life Christian and voting for Trump, Perkins argues that Hawley misrepresented her record because he refused to discuss his concerns with her. Following her resignation, she expressed a desire to clear her name and potentially return to the administration, emphasizing that her role at the FDA would be to provide legal advice rather than set policy.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Pro-Trump attorney fights for her FDA job back after Josh Hawley drove her out<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2077440\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Hilary Perkins spent all of two days working in the second Trump administration before becoming used as a confirmation pawn to secure the path forward for President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Food and Drug Administration\">Donald Trump<\/a>&rsquo;s nominee for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/fda\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Food and Drug Administration\">Food and Drug Administration<\/a> Commissioner, Dr. Marty Makary.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Perkins described the chief counsel position at FDA as her dream job in an interview with the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. But she said she was forced to resign after her work on abortion-related cases as a career attorney for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-justice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Department of Justice\">Department of Justice<\/a> caught the attention of Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/josh-hawley\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Josh Hawley\">Josh Hawley<\/a> (R-MO), who threatened to withhold his vote for Makary if Perkins did not resign.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3362213\/susan-collins-trump-withholding-congress-approved-funds\/\">Susan Collins challenges Trump&rsquo;s withholding of Congress-approved funds<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3361807\/families-potomac-plane-crash-victims-advocacy\/\">Families of DCA plane crash victims turn grief into advocacy<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3361200\/congress-reviews-deadly-dc-midair-collision-clearly-something-missed\/\">Congress reviews deadly DC midair collision: &lsquo;Clearly, something was missed&rsquo;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Perkins spent nearly six years working for the DOJ&rsquo;s Consumer Protection Branch, as both a trial attorney and assistant director, before accepting her FDA post. Before that, she was an experienced attorney at the mega-firm Jones Day.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A week after Makary&rsquo;s relatively uneventful confirmation hearing before the Senate health committee, Hawley drew attention to Perkins&rsquo;s appointment in the new administration, the first political position in her career.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Missouri Republican, in a series of posts on X, accused Perkins of being a &ldquo;Biden abortion lawyer&rdquo; who also &ldquo;argued FOR Biden&rsquo;s draconian, discredited vaccine mandates.&rdquo; Hawley threatened to vote down Makary&rsquo;s confirmation unless Perkins was removed from her post, and the FDA caved just one day later.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I was so surprised by the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/axios?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@axios<\/a> report today that Marty Makary was attempting to sneak a Biden abortion lawyer into top leadership at FDA that I had my team do some research. It turns out this Biden lawyer has argued FOR Biden&rsquo;s outrageous pro-abortion rules in *many* cases.&hellip;<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HawleyMO\/status\/1900006514720735511?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I can&rsquo;t understand why Marty Makary would want someone who used the government to IMPOSE vaccines on millions of Americans and served as a Biden abortion lawyer to be his chief counsel. It calls into question his judgment<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HawleyMO\/status\/1900006518533087268?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&lsquo;A terrible mistake&rsquo;<\/h2>\n<p>Technically, Hawley was right.<\/p>\n<p>In her role at DOJ, Perkins argued on behalf of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Biden-administration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Biden administration<\/a> on multiple abortion cases, including the mifepristone challenge that went to the Supreme Court in June of last year and a vaccine mandate case back in early 2021. The Biden administration would go on to win both of those cases.<\/p>\n<p>But Perkins says Hawley left out key parts of her story, mainly because he declined her overtures to speak with him.<\/p>\n<p>Perkins is a self-described &ldquo;pro-life Christian&rdquo; and voted for Trump in both of the last two general elections. In a recent op-ed, Perkins shared the deeply personal story that a miscarriage shaped her perspective on the sanctity of life.<\/p>\n<p>Hawley also declined to mention in his social media posts that his wife, Erin Hawley, argued the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ohioans-on-both-sides-regroup-after-defeat-for-anti-abortion-side-in-first-referendum\/\" title=\"Ohioans on both sides regroup after anti-abortion side&#039;s first referendum defeat.\">anti-abortion side<\/a> of the Supreme Court mifepristone challenge.<\/p>\n<p>Perkins called Hawley&rsquo;s move a &ldquo;terrible mistake.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In an ideal world, he would have come to me and said, &lsquo;Hey, I have some concerns about your work on these cases, and we would have had a conversation,&rdquo; Perkins told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;He wouldn&rsquo;t even speak with me. He just basically condemned me and said, &lsquo;No, you can&rsquo;t do this. You&rsquo;re not conservative, and said all those <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chris-wallace-already-abandoning-cnn-but-his-career-change-is-completely-absurd\/\" title=\"Chris Wallace Already Abandoning CNN, But His ... Change Is Completely Absurd\">things weren&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t true.&#8217;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Hawley&rsquo;s office did not respond to requests for comment from the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Hawley said at Makary&rsquo;s committee vote that the only reason he was going to back the fDA nominee is because of Perkins&rsquo;s resignation.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&lsquo;President Trump&rsquo;s playbook&rsquo;<\/h2>\n<p>Hawley is new to the Senate health committee responsible for the confirmation hearings of most health picks for the Trump administration, including Makary.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after Hawley&rsquo;s posts about Perkins, the Missouri Republican made a similar social media move against Trump&rsquo;s nominee to oversee Medicare and Medicaid, celebrity surgeon <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/3358098\/senate-committee-advances-dr-oz-nomination-top-health-care-post\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Dr. Mehmet Oz\">Dr. Mehmet Oz<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hawley called out Oz for his past support of transgender medical procedures for minors on his <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">long-running television talk show<\/a>, although Oz denounced so-called &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/instead-of-vetting-the-trans-industry-l-a-times-attacks-its-victims\/\" title=\"Instead Of Vetting The Trans Industry, L.A.Times Attacks Its Victims\">gender-affirming care&#038;rdquo<\/a>; for minors during his 2022 Senate campaign.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>When asked by reporters about his challenge against Oz, Hawley said that he just wanted to ensure the doctor was &ldquo;in line with the President.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In the context of the Oz controversy, White House spokesperson Kush Desai told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that all members of the administration are &ldquo;working from the same playbook, President Trump&rsquo;s playbook.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The White House did not respond to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>&rsquo;s request for comment regarding Hawley&rsquo;s concerns about Perkins at the time of publication.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What&rsquo;s next for Perkins?<\/h2>\n<p>Following Makary&rsquo;s Tuesday confirmation in the Senate, Perkins is hoping to go public with her story, both to clear her name as a &ldquo;conservative&rdquo; and, potentially, rejoin the administration, either as FDA general counsel or in a different capacity.<\/p>\n<p>She said that she has had those &ldquo;discussions&rdquo; with the White House, but White House Office of Presidential Personnel Director Sergio Gor declined to comment when asked by the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> about Perkins&rsquo;s future prospects.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3360885\/signal-scandal-trump-loyalty-goes-both-ways-waltz-hegseth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>SIGNAL SCANDAL SHOWS THAT, IN TRUMP 2.0, &lsquo;LOYALTY GOES BOTH WAYS&rsquo;<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As for the case work Hawley took issue with, Perkins argues that her behavior aligned perfectly with guidance for DOJ attorneys laid out by Trump&rsquo;s Attorney General <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pam-bondi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Pam Bondi\">Pam Bondi<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Bondi sent a memo to all DOJ personnel on February 5 clarifying &ldquo;general policy regarding zealous advocacy on behalf of the United States.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It is the job of an attorney privileged to serve in the Department of Justice to zealously defend the interests of the United States,&rdquo; Bondi&rsquo;s memo reads, noting that DOJ attorneys who break from official administration policy would be subject to discipline and potentially termination. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The responsibilities of Department of Justice attorneys include not only aggressively enforcing criminal and civil laws enacted by Congress, but also vigorously defending presidential policies and actions against legal challenges on behalf of the United States,&rsquo; the memo continued. &ldquo;The discretion afforded Department attorneys entrusted with those responsibilities does not include latitude to substitute personal political views or judgments for those that prevailed in the election.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Perkins stressed to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that, as FDA general counsel, she would not be dictating policy but advising Makary on the &ldquo;legality of the positions that the administration wants to take.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t be setting those policies. Those would be set by higher leadership, like Secretary Kennedy and Dr. Makary, and my primary role would still be as an attorney, providing advice on legal risks,&rdquo; she explained.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, Perkins recognizes she lacks any real &ldquo;recourse&rdquo; to regain her FDA post but still &ldquo;100%&rdquo; supports the administration and believes she is the &ldquo;right person for the job.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3336213\/how-white-house-office-hand-picking-trump-hires\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>HOW WHITE HOUSE &lsquo;CUSTOMER SERVICE&rsquo; OFFICE IS HANDPICKING TRUMP&rsquo;S &lsquo;LOYAL HIRES&rsquo;<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Perkins said that it &ldquo;should have been totally fine for me to do my job as a career DOJ attorney across multiple administrations and then come into this administration because I support it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So if anyone&rsquo;s hypocritical &mdash; I would say to Senator Hawley, &lsquo;yeah, we should be on the same team. And you&rsquo;re misconstruing the work that I did as a Department of Justice career attorney as saying something about my personal views or who I am, and that&rsquo;s just incorrect.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2077440\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2077440\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pro-Trump attorney seeks to reclaim FDA position after Josh Hawley forced her out. Hilary Perkins worked just two days in the Trump administration before being used to facilitate Dr. Marty Makary&#8217;s confirmation as FDA Commissioner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3749,"featured_media":2417589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/josh-hawley-hilary-perkins.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[50410,8468,52486,34799,4742],"class_list":["post-2417588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-controversy-2","tag-fda","tag-job-2","tag-josh-hawley","tag-lawyer"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/josh-hawley-hilary-perkins.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2417588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3749"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2417588"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2417588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2417592,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2417588\/revisions\/2417592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2417589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2417588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2417588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2417588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}