A Biden-era health official who identifies as transgender is outraged that the current Department of Health and Human Services has changed his nameplate to showcase his birth name, Richard Levine, instead of his trans-identifying name, Rachel Levine.

On Tuesday, HHS took to X to unapologetically confirm the change, which apparently took place during the Democrat-backed government shutdown.

The portrait plaque is displayed in the HHS offices.

Can confirm! https://t.co/PdErnBJVqh pic.twitter.com/yuZGMfK6xw

— HHS (@HHSGov) December 9, 2025

Levine was upset about the change, calling it “petty” and an act of “bigotry.”

“I’m not going to comment on this type of petty action,” Levine told NPR.

However, he did respond through a spokesperson. “During the federal shutdown, the current leadership of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health changed Admiral Levine’s photo to remove her current legal name and use a prior name,” Adrian Shanker said, calling the change “bigotry against her.”

The current HHS argued that the change better reflects their mission to express “gold standard science” at all times.

“Our priority is ensuring that the information presented internally and externally by HHS reflects gold standard science,” HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said. “We remain committed to reversing harmful policies enacted by Levine and ensuring that biological reality guides our approach to public health.”

During his tenure, Levine claimed the title of the “first female four-star officer” in a video boasting about “diversity” at HHS. He was also widely criticized for his support of so-called transgender “care” for minors, which opponents highlight is often irreversible and damaging to children.

Additionally, Levine seemed to advocate for the censorship of opposing views on the issue.

“There is substantial misinformation about gender-affirming care for transgender and gender-diverse individuals,” Levine said back in May 2022 during a presentation before the Federation of State Medical Boards in New Orleans.

“We need to get our voices in the public eye, and we know how effective our medical community can be talking to communities, whether it’s at town halls, schools, conversations with others, and we need to use our clinicians’ voice to collectively advocate for our tech companies to create a healthier, cleaner information environment,” Levine added.

Related: Top Biden Official Pushed Big Tech To Censor ‘Misinformation’ On Trans ‘Care’ For Minors, Video Shows

WASHINGTON — The head of the Food and Drug Administration is facing heavy fire from the pro-life community amid reports that he slow-walked a review of abortion drugs promised by Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The backlash followed a Bloomberg report on Monday stating that the FDA had delayed its review of the impacts of abortion drugs, specifically mifepristone — a review promised by both Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Commissioner Marty Makary. Two people familiar with the matter reportedly told Bloomberg that Makary requested that the review be put off until after the midterm elections.

HHS Press Secretary Emily Hilliard told The Daily Wire on Tuesday afternoon that the FDA’s comprehensive scientific reviews “take the time necessary to get the science right,” adding, “That is what Dr. Makary is ensuring as part of the Department’s commitment to gold-standard science and evidence-based reviews.”

HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon similarly rejected the idea that Makary was acting ideologically, telling Bloomberg the “assertions that the FDA is slow-walking this review for political purposes are baseless.”

The White House similarly backed Makary, telling The Daily Wire in a Tuesday afternoon statement that Makary is working hard to “ensure that Americans have the best possible, Gold Standard Science study of mifepristone.” A White House official also pushed back on the claim that the study is being “slow walked,” saying that comprehensive and exhaustive reviews take time.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks in the Oval Office on October 10, 2025, in Washington, DC.  (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“The White House maintains the utmost confidence in Commissioner Makary, whose leadership at the FDA has delivered and continues to deliver one landmark victory for the American people after another, from cracking down on artificial ingredients in our food supply to conducting the first safety review of baby formula in decades,” Deputy White House Press Secretary Kush Desai said. “Uninformed attacks against Commissioner Makary from individuals outside the Administration will not change these facts.”

But a number of high-profile pro-life leaders view the matter differently. They insist Kennedy and Makary promised a timely review of the abortion drugs, and, in their view, wasted time means more babies killed through abortion drugs, and more women harmed by their adverse effects.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, one of the top pro-life groups in the United States, came out swinging on Tuesday morning with a statement condemning Makary, saying he should be “fired immediately” and accusing him of “undermining” the Trump/Vance pro-life agenda.

“The FDA is doing nothing while every single day abortion drugs take the lives of children, put women and girls at serious risk, empower abusers and trample state pro-life laws,” said the organization’s president, Marjorie Dannenfelser. “The FDA needs a new commissioner who will immediately reinstate in-person dispensing as it existed under President Trump’s first term and immediately conduct a comprehensive study.”

“Commissioner Makary is severely undermining President Trump and Vice President Vance’s pro-life credentials and their position that states should have the right to enact and enforce pro-life protections,” she added. “Makary must go.”

Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, who has been particularly vocal throughout the second Trump administration about the need to examine abortion drugs, also slammed Makary on Tuesday, saying that the Bloomberg report suggests the FDA “lied” to him and other members of Congress.

“FDA needs to stop dithering & reinstate the mifepristone safety guardrails,” Hawley said. “Nothing less is acceptable.”

NEW report saying FDA lied to me and other members of Congress & is not actively reviewing the chemical abortion drug at all. FDA needs to stop dithering & reinstate the mifepristone safety guardrails. Nothing less is acceptable https://t.co/33LVP5U1aL

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) December 9, 2025

A pro-life leader who has engaged in conversations with the White House on the topic shared with The Daily Wire that the Tuesday report shattered the confidence of pro-life organizations advocating for the review, confirming inklings of delays that they had already heard.

“I don’t think Senator Hawley is alone in his concerns,” the leader shared.

Lila Rose, a well-known pro-life activist who heads the pro-life organization Live Action, warned in a post on X: “If Dr Makary will not act as head of the FDA to protect children and mothers he should be fired. Under his watch abortion pills kill preborn children and endanger women and the study he promised is nowhere to be found. End mail order abortion. Ban the abortion pill now!”

SBA Pro-Life America cites peer-reviewed research that found three-quarters of emergency room visits within 30 days after a woman took abortion drugs were coded as severe or as critical. They also point to studies that found more than one in ten women experience at least one severe adverse event when taking the abortion drugs, and point out that complications can include hemorrhaging, infections, sepsis, and, in some cases, death.

The Daily Wire reported in late November that 175 Republican lawmakers called on HHS to take “immediate action” to reinstate safety requirements on abortion drugs, highlighting the growing body of evidence showing that the drugs are causing severe and underreported harm to women, asking RFK Jr. and Makary to “at a minimum, reinstate the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone.”

Until 2023, the FDA required abortion drugs to be administered to women under a doctor’s supervision. Under Joe Biden’s administration, that and other safety standards were removed, which the Biden White House justified by citing the coronavirus pandemic.

“The need for urgent investigation and review of this drug comes in the wake of the Biden-Harris administration’s egregious action to remove critical safeguards that once applied to abortion drugs, and the FDA’s approval of a new abortion drug generic in September 2025,” wrote the lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), and Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN).

“Under your leadership, HHS and FDA can reverse this wrong,” they conclude. “We urge you to immediately reinstate the REMS requiring in-person dispensing of mifepristone and to expedite the promised review by the FDA into the dangers of abortion drugs.”