U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Basic facts
Location:	Silver Spring, MD
Type:	Federal agency
Top official:	Robert M. Califf
Year founded:	1930
Website:	Official website

TheFood and Drug Administration (FDA) is a United States federal agency responsible for creating and enforcing safety regulations for food, drugs (including tobacco), cosmetics, and medical devices. The agency is part of theU.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Commissioner of Food and Drugs is appointed by thePresident on the advice and consent of theSenate.^[1]

Mission

On its website, the FDA describes its purpose in the following way:^[1]

History

The United States Food and Drug Administration was established in 1930. On its website, the FDA claims to be "the oldest comprehensive consumer protection agency in the U. S. federal government." The agency traces its contemporary regulatory functions to the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act, which "prohibited interstate commerce in adulterated and misbranded food and drugs."^[3]

Work

Administrative State
Read more about theadministrative state on Ballotpedia.

The FDA has broad regulatory authority. On its website, the agency claims that most of its activity covers the following consumer products:^[4]

Structure

The Food and Drug Administration is a federal agency within theU.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is organized into nine center-level organizations and thirteen headquarters offices:^[5][6]

Leadership

The commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration is Martin A. Makary. Makary was named director in April, 2025 .^[7]

Budget

The following is a table of the approximate yearly budget of the FDA for fiscal years 2022-2024:^[8][9]

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Food and Drug Administration' FDA. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Executive Branch
• Healthcare policy in the United States

External links

• FDA.gov
• FDA podcasts and news feeds
• New York Times news topic: Food and Drug Administration
• FDA on social media:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • flickr

Footnotes

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Gardner •A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States •Association of Data Processing Service Organizations v. Camp •Auer v. Robbins •Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council •Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe •Federal Trade Commission (FTC) v. Standard Oil Company of California •Field v. Clark •Food and Drug Administration v. Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corporation •Humphrey's Executor v. United States •Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) v. Chadha •J.W. Hampton Jr. & Company v. United States •Lucia v. SEC •Marshall v. Barlow's •Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency •Mistretta v. United States •National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) v. Sebelius •National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning Company •National Labor Relations Board v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. •Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan •Securities and Exchange Commission v. Chenery Corporation •Skidmore v. Swift & Co. •United States v. Lopez •United States v. 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United States Terms Adjudication (administrative state) •Administrative judge •Administrative law •Administrative law judge •Administrative state •Arbitrary-or-capricious test •Auer deference •Barrier to entry •Bootleggers and Baptists •Chevron deference (doctrine) •Civil servant •Civil service •Code of Federal Regulations •Codify (administrative state) •Comment period •Compliance costs •Congressional Record •Coordination (administrative state) •Deference (administrative state) •Direct and indirect costs (administrative state) •Enabling statute •Ex parte communication (administrative state) •Executive agency •Federal law •Federal Register •Federalism •Final rule •Formal rulemaking •Formalism (law) •Functionalism (law) •Guidance (administrative state) •Hybrid rulemaking •Incorporation by reference •Independent federal agency •Informal rulemaking •Joint resolution of disapproval (administrative state) •Major rule •Negotiated rulemaking •Nondelegation doctrine •OIRA prompt letter •Organic statute •Pragmatism (law) •Precautionary principle •Promulgate •Proposed rule •Publication rulemaking •Regulatory budget •Regulatory capture •Regulatory dark matter •Regulatory impact analysis •Regulatory policy officer •Regulatory reform officer •Regulatory review •Rent seeking •Retrospective regulatory review •Risk assessment (administrative state) •Rulemaking •Separation of powers •Significant regulatory action •Skidmore deference •Statutory authority •Substantive law and procedural law •Sue and settle •Sunset provision •Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions •United States Code •United States Statutes at Large Bibliography "Administrative Law - The 20th Century Bequeaths an 'Illegitimate Exotic' in Full and Terrifying Flower" by Stephen P. Dresch (2000) "Confronting the Administrative Threat" by Philip Hamburger and Tony Mills (2017) "Constitutionalism after the New Deal" by Cass R. Sunstein (1987) Federalist No. 23 by Alexander Hamilton (1787) "From Administrative State to Constitutional Government" by Joseph Postell (2012) "Interring the Nondelegation Doctrine" by Eric A. Posner and Adrian Vermeule (2002) "Rulemaking as Legislating" by Kathryn Watts (2015) "The Checks & Balances of the Regulatory State" by Paul R. Verkuil (2016) "The Myth of the Nondelegation Doctrine" by Keith E. Whittington and Jason Iuliano (2017) "The Progressive Origins of the Administrative State: Wilson, Goodnow, and Landis" by Ronald J. Pestritto (2007) "The Rise and Rise of the Administrative State" by Gary Lawson (1994) "The Study of Administration" by Woodrow Wilson (1887) "The Threat to Liberty" by Steven F. Hayward (2017) "Why the Modern Administrative State Is Inconsistent with the Rule of Law" by Richard A. Epstein (2008) Agencies Administrative Conference of the United States •United States Civil Service Commission •U.S. Government Accountability Office •U.S. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs •U.S. Office of Management and Budget