Trump Picks RFK Jr. Deputy as Acting CDC Director

There's a new person in charge at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—and he may be a lot more aligned with the views of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on vaccines than Susan Monarez, who was fired less than a month after she was confirmed. The Washington Post, citing "two people familiar with the decision," reports that President Trump has chosen Jim O'Neill, Kennedy's deputy at the Department of Health and Human Services, to serve as interim CDC director. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Monarez was fired because she "was not aligned with the president's mission to make America healthy again." Former acting CDC director Richard Besser said Monarez, who has been fighting her dismissal, was ousted after she refused to fire agency leaders or support Kennedy's changes to vaccine policy.

• Who is O'Neill? The Guardian reports that O'Neill, a biotech investor, has no training in medicine or infectious disease science. He worked at HHS during the George W. Bush administration before working at multiple companies led by billionaire investor Peter Thiel. During the pandemic, he strongly criticized the CDC and supported unproven COVID remedies like ivermectin. He is the second non-physician to lead the CDC since 1953. Monarez, who has a PhD in microbiology and immunology, was the first.

• His confirmation hearing. During his confirmation hearings for deputy HHS secretary in May, O'Neill said he was pro-vaccine but Democrats were skeptical, the Post reports. "I'm very strongly pro-vaccine, I'm an adviser to a vaccine company, I support the CDC vaccine schedule," he said. Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren criticized his answers on how he would advise Kennedy as evasive. "We're trying to determine what kind of advice this guy's going to give, and all he can do is mumble around and say Kennedy is doing a great job," she said.
• CDC officials escorted out of building. Three top CDC officials who resigned after the administration announced Monarez's ouster, Dr. Debra Houry, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, and Dr. Daniel Jernigan, were escorted out of the CDC's Atlanta headquarters by security after they returned to collect their belongings on Thursday, the AP reports. Hundreds of supporters cheered as they left the building, with some chanting "USA not RFK."

• "The whole chain of command has just been disrupted." Dr. Georges Benjamin, director of the American Public Health Association, says it could take months to replace the high-level officials who oversaw the response to disease outbreaks. "The whole chain of command has just been disrupted," he tells the AP. "It's like getting rid of your generals in the middle of a war."
• Departing official slams Kennedy. "I fear that children will be hurt by poor decision making around vaccines," said Daskalakis, who resigned as head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. "You cannot dismantle public health and expect it to still work." In a resignation letter posted on X, he slammed Kennedy's leadership, saying he never "seen such unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end rather than the good of the American people." He wrote: "The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning. My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud. I am resigning because of the cowardice of a leader that cannot admit that HIS and his minions' words over decades created an environment where violence like this can occur."
• Kennedy criticizes CDC. Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the CDC for allegedly covering up links between vaccines and autism, said Thursday that more departures are likely. "There's a lot of trouble at 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," he said.
• Mood at the agency is bleak. The New York Times spoke to around two dozen CDC employees Thursday who said there is a feeling of despair at the agency. Some said they were afraid for the future of the country's health. One scientist said that at a group meeting Thursday, "a senior leader who has always stayed calm under pressure was visibly shaking."