I don't know, but am really curious to find out the rationale! I just noticed it as I started working on FDA approval of a medical device this year and thought it was really odd.
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It’s not off. Sometime you grammatically need a “the”. Sometimes you don’t.
Within an in-group, the definite article is often dropped just out of efficiency. We did the exact same thing at NASA when I worked there.
When was the last time you heard someone say “The NASA”?
Very interesting! I don't think that grammar is the issue here. "FDA" and "the FDA" are apparently used interchangeably no matter the sentence. With NASA, the difference is that no one spells out N.A.S.A., you say it as one word. With FDA, you spell it out. Please correct me if I'm wrong :)
> "FDA" and "the FDA" are apparently used interchangeably no matter the sentence
“Taxol gains quick FDA approval”
“Taxol gains quick the FDA approval”
“Three FDA officials say the drug's approval was warranted”
“Three the FDA officials say the drug's approval was warranted”
I didn't mean using the acronym adjectivally, that would be ridiculous as your examples show ;) When expanding the examples and using the acronym as a noun you can indeed use both forms:
Taxol gains quick approval of FDA.
Taxol gains quick approval of the FDA.
Or others: FDA has approved... vs. The FDA has approved...
To most lay persons, omitting "the" will look a bit weird.
Now the interesting part is that NASA has become a proper noun (probably because it is an acronym that can be pronounced). No one will say "I work at the NASA". With FDA you will see people use both forms, even though the final A in both NASA and FDA stands for Administration. I'm not sure about other government organizations. I don't think anyone says "I work at CIA" or FBI for that matter.
Ok, but I don't think it's different from so many three-letter agencies.
People say that they were "investigated by (the) IRS" or "got a letter from (the) DMV" all the time. One reads in the press about companies being "fined by (the) EPA" or people being "detained by (the) FBI". Dropping the "the" doesn't look that weird.
Looking at https://www.cia.gov they use both forms "work at the CIA" and "work at CIA" (google returns twice as many results for the former than for the latter).
The FTC, FCC, and Fed
DHS, CPB, USCIS
The NBA, NFL, and NHL
MLB, MLS