The Trump administration has picked Deputy Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Jim O’Neill to serve as acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a day after the administration fired current Director Susan Monarez, officials told The Hill.
Monarez is contesting her firing, though the White House has confirmed her ouster following a statement on Wednesday from HHS.
O’Neill is a Silicon Valley investor and former CEO of the Thiel Foundation, funded by Trump donor Peter Thiel. He previously served as principal associate deputy secretary at HHS during the George W. Bush administration.
He was sworn in as deputy secretary in June.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would announce a replacement for Monarez “very soon.”
The tumult in leadership has sparked panic and outrage among public health groups and Democrats in Congress.
Following Monarez’s ouster, four top CDC leaders submitted their resignations on Wednesday.
Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), leaders of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, have vowed to conduct oversight into the matter.
In a 2014 speech, O’Neill called for pushing against the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) mission to consider the efficacy of drugs in its decision to approve them, saying the agency should only consider safety.
“We should reform FDA so that it’s approving drugs after their sponsors have demonstrated safety and let people start using them at their own risk, but not much risk of safety,” O’Neill said at the time.