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O’Neill, a former Bush-era health official and long-time adviser to investor Peter Thiel, will continue to serve as HHS deputy secretary.
The leadership shake-up comes as Kennedy advances a controversial health agenda
The White House has appointed Jim O’Neill, deputy to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to a report by the Associated Press citing sources familiar with the development. While the appointment has yet to be formally announced, O’Neill is set to replace Susan Monarez, who was named CDC Director in late July.
Monarez is being ousted less than a month into her tenure. However, a report by PharmExec notes that her legal team is pushing back against attempts to remove her from the role. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on August 27 that Monarez would no longer serve as director, though the statement did not specify whether she resigned or was dismissed.
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The leadership shake-up comes as Kennedy advances a controversial health agenda, including policies widely criticised for contradicting decades of established vaccine science. The turmoil has sparked bipartisan concern. Two Republican senators have called for congressional oversight, and several Democrats have demanded Kennedy’s removal. He is scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill on September 4.
“There’s a lot of trouble at the CDC and it’s going to require getting rid of some people over the long term, in order for us to change the institutional culture,” Kennedy said during a news conference in Texas. He did not clarify who he was referring to.
Monarez’s attorneys argue she was removed because she refused “to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts.” She was nominated by President Donald Trump in March and formally appointed in July.
Following Monarez’s departure, three senior CDC officials, Dr. Debra Houry, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, and Dr. Daniel Jernigan, resigned from their leadership posts. Houry and Daskalakis told the AP that Monarez had attempted to shield the agency from political interference in scientific decisions.
Daskalakis resigned as head of the National Center for Immunisation and Respiratory Diseases, while Jernigan stepped down from the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.
O’Neill, a former Bush-era health official and longtime adviser to investor Peter Thiel, will continue to serve as HHS deputy secretary while taking on the CDC leadership. Confirmed by the Senate in June, O’Neill has publicly supported vaccines but criticised the CDC’s handling of data and communication during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
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