Washington D.C. – Susan Monarez, the last Senate-approved Trump CDC director, was kicked to the curb in August 2025 because she dared to question HHS Secretary RFK Jr.’s harmful anti-vax agenda. Ever since, Donald Trump and RFK Jr. have done the bare minimum: occupying the extremely important role with suboptimal acting directors despite historic outbreaks of measles and other preventable disease among the unvaccinated at incredible cost.
And now as today marks the 210-day deadline under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act for Trump to nominate a permanent replacement, the Washington Post reports that Trump has not bothered to make a decision, leaving NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya to continue running both the NIH and CDC poorly, just without the title of acting 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 Protect Our Care’s Public Health Project “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.”
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