The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is led by Acting Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who also leads the National Institutes of Health. – Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images/File
The Trump administration had been expected to nominate a new director for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week, but the White House is not ready to name its pick for the post, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who is also director of the US National Institutes of Health, “will continue to oversee the CDC by performing the delegable duties of the CDC director,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement, though he may no longer hold the title of acting director, which he has had since last month.
HHS is seeking new candidates for CDC director as well as continuing to weigh some of those who were already under consideration, according to an HHS official.
A federal law called the Vacancies Act limits the amount of time an acting officer can serve in place of a Senate-confirmed official to 210 days. Thursday will mark 210 days since the most recent CDC director, Dr. Susan Monarez, was fired by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In an all-hands CDC meeting Wednesday, Bhattacharya said he expected “that there will be a permanent director nominated by tomorrow, but if not, I do not expect that much will change,” according to a person at the CDC who listened to the meeting.
HHS feels confident that having Bhattacharya remain in his role, without the title, is legal and will withstand any challenges, the agency official said.
“Secretary Kennedy and Chris Klomp are working with the White House on the CDC director search by evaluating candidates that can further the Trump administration’s objective of restoring the CDC to its original mission of fighting infectious disease,” Nixon said. Klomp, who has been director of Medicare, was recently appointed chief counselor of HHS and has been spearheading the search for a new CDC director.
In congressional testimony last fall, Monarez said she was dismissed after only 29 days on the job for refusing to rubber-stamp changes to vaccine policy.
Monarez was President Trump’s second choice to helm the agency. The White House withdrew its first nominee, Dr. Dave Weldon, a former Florida congressman, after it became clear he didn’t have enough votes to win confirmation.
The CDC has endured months of uncertainty and loss under the second Trump administration.
Shortly after Monarez took office, a gunman driven by distrust in vaccines attacked the CDC’s Atlanta headquarters, firing more than 180 rounds that sprayed multiple buildings and killed DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose. Some bullet holes left in windows and walls around the campus still haven’t been repaired.
Before the shooting, thousands of reduction-in-force cuts hollowed out divisions and departments, though some of those were later reinstated after legal action. Webpages on vaccine safety were edited without consultation with staff scientists to cast doubt on the agency’s previous statements that vaccines do not cause autism. Political appointees filled top leadership posts that had once been occupied by career staff.
Kennedy dismissed a key panel of 17 experts who advise CDC on its vaccine decisions last year, replacing them with his own picks, many of whom have emphasized the risks of vaccines while downplaying their health benefits. A federal judge recently reversed some of Kennedy’s efforts to restrict the use of vaccines, saying he probably violated federal procedures.
Polls show that trust in US health agencies has plummeted during Kennedy’s tenure.
Measles cases in the US are at their highest level in three decades and the nation risks losing its status as having eliminated ongoing transmission of the highly infectious disease. Other infectious diseases like whooping cough and mumps have also surged as vaccination rates have dropped.
Public health advocates criticized Trump’s delay in nominating a permanent CDC director.
“There’s never been any sense of urgency from Donald Trump and RFK Jr. around the department tasked with keeping Americans safe from dangerous disease – and this blown nomination deadline exemplifies that incompetence and neglect,” said Kayla Hancock, director of the Public Health Project with Protect Our Care, a nonprofit that advocates for greater access to health insurance and health care.
“Even as preventable diseases like measles are ravaging communities across the country, Trump prefers to keep fooling around with our health with band-aid solutions,” Hancock said in a statement.
CNN’s Michal Ruprecht contributed to this report.
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