For 28 days last summer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had a director who had been confirmed by the Senate. But in less time than it took Susan Monarez to get approved, she was fired for not kowtowing to her boss, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., over vaccination policy.
It’s starting to look increasingly possible that that less than monthlong stretch may be the only period in the second Trump administration when the agency has a full-time director, according to several public health experts who follow the CDC closely. President Trump hasn’t nominated a new director to replace Monarez, and a White House spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.
“I think there’s a high likelihood that the CDC will not have a presidentially appointed and a confirmed director in [the remainder of] this administration,” Samuel Bagenstos, a professor of law and social policy at the University of Michigan, told STAT.
