Trump is expected to appoint a new CDC director, as measles continues to spread
As the Trump administration prepares to name a new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, insiders say they are concerned that the nominee will further undermine trust in the top health agency, as measles outbreaks increase and the federal government’s vaccination policies face opposition.
President Donald Trump is expected to name his candidate at the Truth Social on Wednesday. If confirmed by the Senate, the director will inherit an agency marked by a turbulent year of mass layoffs, fatal shootings and lackluster leadership.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the acting director of the CDC, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, have long criticized the CDC, focusing too much on the mistakes of Covid, but have never offered ways to support or strengthen the agency, CDC employees said.
“I don’t disagree with the idea that we have lost a lot of trust, but I think it will be difficult for leaders to ask us to rebuild trust,” said another senior official. “It’s a two-way street.” The person asked not to be identified because they fear punishment.
“They keep saying over and over again that the CDC has a lot of work to do to restore hope to the public,” said another scientist who also asked not to be named. “I don’t think blaming a public servant is the way to fix that.”
The White House and the Department of Health and Human Services have been mum on the potential nominees. The Washington Post reported that Mississippi health director Dr. Daniel Edney is on the short list of names.
Dr. David Margolius, director of public health in Cleveland and a member of the Big Cities Health Coalition, said he had the opportunity to work with Edney at a CDC-led meeting of state health officials in 2024.
“He was really thoughtful, and it was clear that what drove him was his desire to improve the lives of his people,” said Margolius. That kind of focus on public health will be a key feature of the CDC’s next head, she said. “We don’t need someone who is on television. We don’t need someone who speaks on social media. We need someone who cooperates and puts the health of the citizens of the country first, not their selfishness.”
Other potential nominees circulated within the CDC rumor mill include former director Dr. Robert Redfield, who served in Trump’s first term. He recently spoke to residents of Ave Maria, Florida, about the ongoing measles outbreak in that community, encouraging them to get vaccinated.
The ongoing outbreak has put the US close to losing its measles-eradication status, although childhood vaccinations — and the CDC, in general — don’t appear to be a focus of the White House ahead of November’s midterm elections. Kennedy has highlighted efforts to lower drug prices, new dietary guidelines and America’s reliance on highly processed foods, policies driven by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
‘Spinning its wheels’
Apart from the director, other senior positions are yet to be filled, including the deputy executive director and chief medical officer.
Those positions are important in part because they prioritize which projects receive funding and resources.
“Usually, the director comes up with what are the priorities first, and then the whole agency changes to be able to achieve those important things,” said Dr. “But this organization had no new priorities. It just sits there, turning its wheels, putting out fires. You have a ship without a captain.”
Susan Monarez became the only person to hold the position of director of the CDC during Trump’s second term, holding the position for only 29 days last summer. Monarez was fired, he said during his testimony, because he refused to comply with Kennedy’s demands to recommend a rubber-stamp vaccine without scientific backing.
His dismissal led to the resignation of senior officials at the CDC, including chief medical officer Dr. Debra Houry; Dr. Daniel Jernigan, director of the National Center for Emerging and Infectious Zoonotic Diseases; and Daskalakis. None of these roles have been filled.
Before Trump’s second term, presidents simply appointed their own CDC director and did not need Senate approval. That changed with the CDC Leadership Accountability Act of 2023, which is meant, as the name suggests, to increase accountability for the agency following mistakes during a time of violence.
In March 2025, the White House withdrew Trump’s first nomination to head the CDC, former Rep. Dave Weldon, on the eve of his confirmation hearing. It looks like he won’t have the votes to be confirmed, sources said at the time.
Once Monarez left office, the White House had 210 days to announce a replacement, according to federal law. That deadline is March 25.
The CDC has had several acting directors since last summer, most recently Bhattacharya, who also serves as head of the National Institutes of Health. While Bhattacharya has been critical of the CDC and pandemic-related shutdowns, his tone seems softer.
“There are a lot of professionals at the CDC who care a lot about public health,” Bhattacharya said during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on March 17. “What I found was that there was a real openness to discuss things where there was disagreement within public health — a real sense of professionalism.”
As employees wait for new leadership, projects are not doing well, many are on the way waiting for funding.
“Things sit on people’s desks for months, waiting for the director’s office to sign,” said the official. Supplies are expiring or being discarded as workers wait to hear whether work can continue, workers told NBC News.
It’s important that whoever is ultimately appointed, CDC staff say, work with career scientists instead of against them. At the very least, one said, it should be “someone who won’t make life more miserable than it already is.”
The person to be appointed must be confirmed by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions before the official appointment.
“Many people are ready to go back to work,” said a senior official. “The American public deserves a world-class CDC. I really hope we get leadership that believes in that, too.”
