The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is facing mounting instability as top officials continue to depart and the Trump administration prepares to nominate a new permanent director in the coming weeks.
Jay Bhattacharya, who also leads the National Institutes of Health, arrived at the CDC’s Atlanta headquarters last week as acting director. His appointment follows months of upheaval that have left the nation’s leading public health agency without consistent leadership.
Since January 2025, roughly 80% of the CDC’s center directors have either resigned or been forced out, according to the CDC Data Project, an independent tracker of staffing and funding reductions. Over the same period, the agency’s overall workforce has shrunk by about a quarter.
Current and former employees describe a power vacuum that has disrupted routine operations and dampened morale. Some staff members have been left without supervisors to approve travel, manage grants or coordinate cross-team initiatives. Others say career scientists have been sidelined and that communication around major vaccine policy decisions has been limited.
The leadership turnover comes amid broader policy shifts under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has called for refocusing the agency on infectious diseases and restoring public trust after the Covid-19 pandemic. Over the past year, the CDC has overhauled the childhood vaccine schedule, adopted new public language suggesting a possible link between vaccines and autism, and seen the removal of its only Senate-confirmed director, Susan Monarez.
Bhattacharya replaces Jim O’Neill, who had served as acting director since August before being dismissed last month. His departure was followed by the resignation of principal deputy director Ralph Abraham, who had held the role for less than three months. Abraham’s exit, initially attributed to family health concerns, fueled further uncertainty within the agency.
The administration has yet to name a permanent nominee. Dr. Heidi Overton, a senior official on the Domestic Policy Council, declined to be considered for the role. Any nominee is expected to face scrutiny in the Senate, particularly after several Republican senators criticized Kennedy for removing Monarez over disagreements related to vaccine policy.
Adding to internal tensions is the growing influence of political appointees. Sam Beyda, a 24-year-old Columbia University graduate with no prior public health experience, has taken on a prominent operational role, according to current and former officials. An internal document listed him as leading multiple strategic initiatives, including outbreak response updates and pathogen surveillance.
Beyda has been linked by some officials to January grant cuts to state and local health departments that were later rescinded, as well as to a wave of layoffs during the October government shutdown, which saw more than 1,000 employees dismissed and hundreds subsequently reinstated. The Health and Human Services Department has denied that he directed those actions and maintains that political appointees are qualified for their positions.
Meanwhile, a controversial $1.6 million grant for a hepatitis B vaccine study in Guinea-Bissau has been paused following criticism from the World Health Organization, further intensifying debate over the agency’s direction.
Source: WSJ