Trump to Tap Acting Director Susan Monarez for Top CDC Post

Buckle up! This could get messy...

This article originally appeared on The Defender and was republished with permission.

Guest post by Brenda Baletti, Ph.D.

President Donald Trump plans to nominate Susan Monarez, Ph.D., as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where she has served as acting director since January 23, CBS reported Monday.

The decision comes after the White House at the last minute withdrew its nomination of Dr. Dave Weldon to lead the agency. Multiple senators also told Axios they had concerns about Weldon’s general lack of preparation for the role.

Weldon failed to secure enough votes, reportedly because of comments he made regarding the link between autism and vaccines, according to Politico.

Since then, two other names — Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and former Texas Republican Congressman Michael Burgess — were circulated as possible nominees.

Children’s Health Defense CEO Mary Holland said:

“I am pleased that the Trump administration has so speedily nominated a new candidate. I hope the Senate will approve this person and other leading figures at HHS as soon as possible. There is a great deal of work to do!”

First CDC Director in 50 Years Who Isn’t a Physician

Monarez was previously deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) created by the Biden administration to accelerate “high-risk, high reward” biomedical research. ARPA-H is modeled after the U.S. military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

She has a doctorate in microbiology and immunology and has previously held roles at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

If confirmed, Monarez would be the first head of the CDC to be voted on by the Senate. The CDC director has previously been an appointed position, CNN reported.

At the CDC, Monarez will oversee an annual core discretionary budget of $9.7 billion and will report to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. An unnamed federal official told CBS that Monarez “had gotten along well” with Kennedy.

CBS also reported that she is likely to face questions about her role in making changes to the agency’s weekly publication, delaying the meeting of the CDC vaccine advisory committee and plans to study the link between vaccines and autism.

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