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The same situation awaits the new director. And according to reports, the person selected for the role will need to walk an extremely fine line: having the credentials needed to pass the Senate, managing Kennedy’s anti-vaccine views without taking overtly anti-vaccine actions, and appeasing Kennedy’s politically influential Make America Healthy Again base.
So far, Kennedy appears to be struggling with the discovery. Sources close to the matter said the goal was to name a nominee before the Wednesday deadline, but Kennedy was unable to do so, The Washington Post reported. Sources said that names of about half a dozen people are being seriously considered for this role.
On Wednesday, Bhattacharya held a meeting with CDC staff where he was expected to unveil a nominee. He did not do so, although he suggested that a nominee could be announced by Thursday. “But if not, I don’t think much will change,” he said, according to a leaked recording obtained by KFF News.
In response to questions from Ars Technica, the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the CDC, declined to answer questions about why nominees were delayed or whether there is an expected timeline for nomination.
A spokesperson said only that Kennedy and Chris Klomp, HHS’s operations leader and a close adviser to Kennedy, “are working with the White House on the search for a CDC director by evaluating candidates who can advance the Trump administration’s objective of restoring CDC to its core mission of fighting infectious disease.”
The spokesperson further said that Bhattacharya will remain at CDC without acting director but will perform the “delegable duties” of the post.
At the all-party meeting on Wednesday, Bhattacharya joked about continuing in the post “either as acting director or in the capacity of acting director, whatever that means”.
“It’s the same Office episode, you know?” He said.
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